The Archdiocese of Chicago is suing to stop payments to individuals it says made false claims of child sexual abuse at a Black Catholic parish to rack up monetary settlements, according to court documents.
The action comes in the form of a countersuit filed on March 24 against two John Does who filed civil complaints concerning alleged abuse perpetrated by Daniel J. McCormack, a 56-year-old former priest defrocked in 2007.
“The point of this action is to protect the interests of legitimate victims,” James Geoly, general counsel for the archdiocese, told Chicago Catholic.
“This was a very egregious case of very bad behavior. We have a very open, compassionate system, and these people took advantage of that.”
The archdiocese’s filing in Cook County Circuit Court says a number of connected individuals, including convicted felons and gang members, caught onto a series of legitimate abuse cases against McCormack, who the Illinois attorney general has described as “one of the most infamous child abusers anywhere” in the state.
The archdiocese has paid more than $9 million in abuse settlements involving the Irish-American former priest, who has been accused by some 130 alleged victims from as far back as his seminary studies—including during a trip to Mexico. He was ordained a priest in 1994 and served in several Black Catholic communities in Chicago, including St. Ailbe’s in Calumet Heights, Holy Family on the Near West Side, and St. Agatha’s in North Lawndale.
McCormack was...
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