Former Catholic cardinal Theodore McCarrick's sexual abuse trial has been suspended on Wednesday after officials found the defendant incompetent to stand trial.
The development could result in the end of efforts to prosecute the former catholic leader. McCarrick is the highest-ranking Catholic official in the United States to be criminally prosecuted on charges of sexual abuse.
Former Catholic Cardinal's Sexual Abuse Case Suspended
Wisconsin County Judge David M. Reddy did not dismiss the case against McCarrick outright, arguing that he did not have the power to do so. That decision will instead be up to District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld, who was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday following the announcement of the case's suspension.
Wiedenfeld's deputy, Jim Sempf, noted that the district attorney said on Tuesday that he had not wanted to dismiss the charges against the former cardinal. However, any future prosecution would likely be difficult as McCarrick is 93 years old.
Furthermore, the defendant's lawyers said that he suffers from dementia and the Wisconsin judge said that the former Catholic leader was "not likely to be competent" within the rest of the statutory time frame that would allow the case to move forward, as per the New York Times.
The next hearing for the case was not scheduled until December, but the entire ordeal could be dismissed much earlier than that. The defendant did not attend the hearing on Wednesday and his attorney, Jerome Buting said that the ruling "isn't a victory or defeat, it's reality."
The former Catholic cardinal had faced similar charges in the state of Massachusetts where a judge ruled in August that he was not competent to stand trial. That decision, including the latest ruling on Wednesday, disappointed victims and their supporters who wanted to see McCarrick face criminal consequences.
The co-director of the advocacy group BishopAccountability.org, Anne Barrett Doyle said that the situation is deplorable but noted that it was not at all surprising. She noted that they should not accept this as normal, where Catholic bishops evade justice for their crimes.
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Theodore McCarrick Found Incompetent To Stand Trial
The charges against the former cardinal include sexual assault in the fourth degree and a misdemeanor in connection with accusations that he fondled an 18-year-old family friend at a Wisconsin lake in the 1970s, according to the Washington Post.
That was the second criminal charge since sexual misconduct accusations against McCarrick surfaced in 2018. Following the allegations, the former Cardinal was removed from public ministry.
McCarrick became the first cardinal to be laicized in 2019 after the Vatican found that he had sexually abused minors. The following year, the Vatican released an unprecedented 450-page report about McCarrick that detailed how he continued to rise in the ranks despite his superiors knowing there were problems surrounding him.
The program director of Nate's Mission, Peter Isely said that the court's misdemeanor charge does not represent the full extent of the years-long abuse that McCarrick's victims suffered. He noted that it was the only charge that could be brought in Wisconsin under state law at the time, said Fox11 News.
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