Man sexually abused by ex-Chicago priest Daniel McCormack shares outrage after release
ABC7 Eyewitness News Exclusive
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A man who says he was sexually abused by disgraced former priest Daniel McCormack is speaking out about what happened to him. The man is a victim of McCormack who settled with the Archdiocese of Chicago in a civil suit.
McCormack pleaded guilty to sexually abusing five boys and young men, although he's accused of abusing many more.
"It's something I will never, ever get over," he said. "It takes courage to do what I'm doing right now."
Known as "John Doe" in court documents, the victim of convicted child molester Daniel McCormack is choosing to remain anonymous, but wants his voice heard. He is outraged over the former Catholic priest's release from custody last month.
"The release of him made me feel that, not only it could it happen again, but no one cared that it happened to me," he said.
John Doe was one of several boys that were sexually abused by McCormack while he served at St. Agatha Parish on the city's West Side. Doe said the abuse began when he was 11 years old in 2004 and continued the following year, shortly before McCormack's arrest for abusing another child.
"It made me feel that God had not cared for me as much as I thought he did," he said.
Now 28 years old, Doe continues to struggle daily with his mental health. He said his parents sent him to St. Agatha school for a better education.
"I started to question God as if I should even live at times," he said. "It felt like my parents betrayed me for trying to do better for me."
SEE ALSO | Judge rules ex-Chicago priest Daniel McCormack sexually violent
In 2007, McCormack was sentenced to 5 years in prison for pleading guilty to molesting five boys. He remained in custody indefinitely after a judge deemed him a "sexually violent person" under law. But this year, an Illinois Appellate Court overruled the judge's ruling. McCormack became a free man last month.
At this point, all legal efforts to place McCormack back into custody have been exhausted after the Illinois Supreme Court denied a petition from the Illinois Attorney General.
With McCormack's release, John Doe said he feels victimized all over again.
"He still not sorry and that is my purpose to make him sorry and make him think about it and to be, I'm not God or a judge, but to make him hurt the rest of his life like I will," Doe said.
McCormack is a registered sex offender and living on the Near North Side of Chicago.
