In a recent twist in the ongoing saga of clergy abuse within the Catholic Church, the Archdiocese of Chicago has taken an unusual legal stance. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the archdiocese has filed a counterclaim alleging that several men conspired to fabricate sexual abuse claims against Daniel McCormack, a defrocked priest with a history of abuse convictions, eyeing lucrative legal settlements.
The lawsuit reveals a potential conspiracy involving gang members and even a convicted murderer, with the plaintiffs having described their fraudulent claims as a "lick," a street slang for theft. While one of the men was reportedly overheard in a state prison saying, "I got to get on the money train, man," another responded, "Hell, yeah, I need some ass-free money, too. As long as [McCormack] ain’t got to touch me for real, I don’t give a - - - -." These claims have raised questions about the authenticity of the allegations and the potential exploitation of the legal system for financial gain.
Digging into the details, the archdiocese’s legal team listened through extensive hours of phone recordings that led to the uncovering of the alleged scheme. The intricate investigation, likened to finding a needle in a haystack by attorney James Geoly, started in earnest when one claimant was discovered to be incarcerated. As CBSNews Chicago disclosed, the legal team scrutinized conversations where one individual confessed, "I didn't go there," and, "I wasn't even in a program," while others were reported to have boasted about their ability to feign emotions to bolster their false claims.
Since McCormack's guilty plea in 2007 to sexually abusing five children, the Chicago Archdiocese has settled more than $20 million in related lawsuits. The current situation presents a complicated battleground where the true extent of McCormack's transgressions is muddied by allegations of deceit for financial gain. The church’s attorney stated that the alleged fraudsters used payoffs to recruit others into the scheme, offering them "scripts" to bolster their credibility. Melanie Sakoda from the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) lamented the situation, saying, "It makes me sad to think that someone would be making a false allegation," emphasizing the difficulty it poses for genuine victims seeking justice.
James Geoly of the Archdiocese emphasizes that their intention isn't to discourage legitimate claims. “We encourage people to come forward — anyone who's had a problem or thinks there's a problem with a priest — and it is not the intention of this lawsuit in any way to deter that," he told CBSNews Chicago. Countering, an attorney for some of the accused called the lawsuit "a fantastical, orchestrated narrative" and dismissed it as an attempt by the archdiocese to deflect from its own shortcomings.
