Man Tells Jurors Philadelphia Priest "Took Away" His Childhood
By Steve Tawa
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A sexual assault case against a Philadelphia priest is being replayed after the first one ended in a mistrial, just over a year ago.
The priest's chief accuser became emotional within moments of taking the witness stand, while simply beginning to describe the layout of the priest's living quarters at the Rectory of St. John Cantius Parish on Almond Street in Bridesburg.
The judge abruptly excused jurors to give him time to regain his composure. When they returned, he told jurors Father Andrew McCormick was "super friendly," until that moment when he says he was molested after serving an evening mass.
Now 27, he said he was unable to process what happened to him as a 10-year-old altar boy in 1997, and it took him 14 years to come forward with the allegation.
He told jurors "my childhood was taken from me by that man." Dressed in a trim blue suit, and now working as a celebrity makeup artist, he never made eye contact with the defendant in court.
Father McCormick, now 59, is on administrative leave.
Like the previous case, the judge has imposed a gag order on all parties, preventing anyone from talking about it outside the courtroom.