By Alanna Durkin Richer - The Associated Press
Former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was removed from office after a Vatican investigation indicated he had sexually abused adults and children, has been accused of sexually assaulting a young man during a wedding in the 1970s, according to court documents he held. access the newspaper The Boston Globe.
McCarrick, charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery on a person over the age of 14, is the first cardinal in the United States to be criminally prosecuted for a sex offense against a minor, according to Mitchell Garabedian, a well-known attorney for victims of sexual abuse by the Church representing the alleged victim.
[Pope Francis approves a profound revision of Vatican laws and toughens the punishment for sexual abuse]
"It takes a lot of courage for a victim of sexual abuse to report being sexually abused to investigators and proceed through the criminal process," Garabedian explained in an email sent to The Associated Press.
"That the facts are presented, the law is applied and a fair verdict is issued," he asked.
McCarrick's attorney, Barry Coburn, said he "hopes to address the case in the courtroom," and declined to comment further.
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A report filed in court notes that the alleged victim told investigators that McCarrick was a friend of the family and that the then-religious began abusing him when he was a child.
