Archdiocese of Chicago hit with suit over allegations of priest misconduct

A man is suing over claims he was sexually abused by a Catholic priest in Chicago when he was a minor.

The plaintiff, identified only as A.R., filed a lawsuit last month in the Cook County Circuit Court against The Catholic Bishop of Chicago, a corporation sole, also known as The Archdiocese of Chicago.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff was sexually abused by Father Daniel McCormack, the associate pastor at St. Agatha Parish and the coach of the boys' basketball team at Our Lady of the Westside School Presentation Campus, where the plaintiff was a student.

The plaintiff claims he first met the priest when he was on the basketball team, and was abused and inappropriately touched on several occasions on church property between 2003 and 2004. The abuse continued with other children until McCormack was arrested in 2006 and pleaded guilty to sexually abusing minor boys, the suit states.

The plaintiff accuses the defendant of breaching its duties to him by failing to properly investigate reports of sexual misconduct by McCormack while he was still a seminarian, not reporting him to authorities, failing to properly supervise him and allowing him access to minors, among other claims.

A.R. is seeking damages and is being represented in the case by attorney Paul Wolf of Mitchell, Hoffman and Wolf LLC in Chicago.

Cook County Circuit Court Case No. 2014L008331.

This is a report on a civil lawsuit filed in the Cook County Circuit Court. The details in this report come from an original complaint filed by a plaintiff. Please note, a complaint represents an accusation by a private individual, not the government. It is not an indication of guilt, and it only represents one side of the story.