The judge handling the case of 93-year-old sex offender Theodore McCarrick, a disgraced former Roman Catholic cardinal, has ruled Wednesday (August 30) that the former Archbishop of Washington was not competent to stand trial after both prosecutors and defense barristers determined he suffered from dementia. The judge also dismissed charges he sexually assaulted a teenage boy in Massachusetts in the 1970s.
McCarrick was degraded and defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 following an internal Vatican investigation that determined he sexually molested both adults and children. McCarrick's case creates a credibility catastrophe for the church, as the Vatican government had reports from several cardinals and other church officials dating back to 1999 about McCarrick's problematic behavior, yet he rose to the ranks of the cardinalate and has since been geopolitically active in diplomacy, particularly with the Vatican's relations with China.
Disgraced Man with Dementia
During the hearing Wednesday, prosecution psychologist Dr. Kerry Nelligan said she found significant deficits in McCarrick's memory during two interviews in June, and he was often unable to recall what they had discussed from one hour to the next. She added there were no medications that could improve the symptoms of dementia.
"It's not just that he currently has these deficits," Nelligan said. "There is no way they are going to get better."
Without being able to remember discussions, she added, McCarrick could not participate with his lawyers in his defense.
The finding concurred with McCarrick's defense team, who said their client was assessed by a professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who diagnosed McCarrick with dementia.
Back when he was still allegedly lucid, McCarrick maintained he was innocent of all the charges laid against him, pleading not guilty in September 2021. In April this year, he was also charged with sexually assaulting an 18-year-old man in Wisconsin more than 45 years ago.
McCarrick, who lives in Dittmer, Missouri, was charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over 14. He was not exempt from facing charges because the clock stopped on the statute of limitations the moment he left Massachusetts, the Associated Press reported.
Disappointed with Dismissal of McCarrick's Case
On the other hand, clergy sex abuse lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, who represented the man accusing McCarrick, said in June his client was discouraged by the prosecution's expert findings and the subsequent dismissal of the case.
"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," he said.
The accuser told authorities in a 2021 interview that McCarrick was close to the man's family when he was growing up. Prosecutors added the disgraced cleric would attend family gatherings and travel on vacations with them and that the victim referred to the priest as "Uncle Ted."
Prosecutors also said McCarrick committed the abuse over several years, including when the accuser, who was 16 at the time, was at his brother's wedding reception at Wellesley College, where he was sexually assaulted by McCarrick in a coat room after they returned to the reception, telling the boy to say some prayers before leaving the room.
"McCarrick walks a free man, and I am left with nothing," the accuser wrote.
Related Article: SC Ex-Priest Pleads Guilty to Sexual Misconduct, Child Exploitation
