Judge rules former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is not competent to stand trial in sex abuse case, dismisses charges
By Nicki Brown, CNN
(CNN) — A district court judge ruled Wednesday that former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is not competent to stand trial in a criminal case for alleged sex abuse of a minor about 50 years ago, dismissing the charges against him.
In 2021, McCarrick was charged in Massachusetts with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or older. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
McCarrick was the highest-ranking Catholic official in the United Stated to face criminal charges for sex abuse of a minor, the unnamed victim’s attorney said previously.
Two examinations of McCarrick, 93, concluded he had an “age-related incompetence,” said David Traub, a spokesperson for the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office. The first examination was provided by the defense team, and the second was conducted by an independent expert at the request of prosecutors, he said.
“The judge heard that information and ruled that he is incompetent,” Traub told CNN. “The charges were then dismissed.”
McCarrick appeared remotely via video feed at the hearing.
Barry Coburn, an attorney for McCarrick, declined to comment on the ruling.
“In spite of the criminal court’s decision today, many clergy sexual abuse victims feel as though former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is and will always be the permanent personification of evil within the Catholic Church,” Mitchell Garabedian, the unnamed victim’s attorney, said in a statement Wednesday.
The victim told investigators that McCarrick had been friends with a family member and outlined multiple incidents of alleged abuse by McCarrick, most of which took place in New Jersey, New York and California, according to a criminal complaint filed in 2021.
McCarrick has maintained his innocence in the past regarding previous allegations.
Raised to cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II, a year after he became Archbishop of Washington, McCarrick went on to become a power player both in the Church and in Washington, DC, and was known for his fundraising and influence overseas.
He resigned from the College of Cardinals in 2018 and was defrocked by the Vatican in 2019 after a Church trial found him guilty of sexually abusing minors.
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CNN’s Braden Walker and Lauren Del Valle contributed to this report.
