May 11, 2006 6:00 pm US/Central
Mothers Of Alleged Abuse Victims Expand Lawsuit
Women Blame The Archdiocese For Abuse
by Joanie Lum
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Two angry mothers are expanding their lawsuit over alleged child sex abuse by Father Daniel McCormack.
The priest is accused of molesting at least five boys, two of them while under supervision after earlier charges surfaced.
As CBS 2's Joanie Lum reports, the mothers blame the archbishop and the Archdiocese.
The mothers of two boys who say they were molested by McCormack say they hate watching him bond out of jail after each criminal charge of molesting children.
"They continue to get this man out and put him on the street," said one mother.
Their lawsuit seeks to punish Francis Cardinal George and the Chicago Archdiocese for allowing Father McCormack to be around children at Saint Agatha's, even after they reported the abuse. One woman's son was 10 at the time.
"Before this happened to him, my son was a straight A-B student. Now, he gets D's and F's on his report," she said.
The other child was 8 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. The lawsuit claims Cardinal George knowingly put other children at risk.
"He needs to step down. He is a liar," his mother said.
The lawsuit alleges that the Archdiocese destroyed documents relating to the investigation.
"The cardinal of the Archdiocese is at the head of and the mastermind for the cover-up and concealment of a known sexual offender," said attorney Jeff Anderson.
The Archdiocese of Chicago responded by saying: "We've been very open about the McCormack situation. We've acknowledged our inadequacies and are doing everything we can to rectify them."
These mothers already filed a civil lawsuit against the Chicago Archdiocese.
Thursday's filing adds the punitive damages, but attorneys won't say how much money they are seeking.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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