CV NEWS FEED // The Archdiocese of Chicago, Illinois, filed a lawsuit March 24 alleging that several sexual abuse complaints filed against defrocked Chicago priest Daniel McCormack were made up to get hefty settlement payouts from the Church.
The Chicago Tribune reported that the archdiocese’s suit is based on several jail call records, in which inmates and their co-conspirators allegedly discussed how “easy” it was to file a sexual abuse claim against the archdiocese and get “free money.” Their alleged scheme goes back to at least 2012 and took advantage of the McCormack scandal that had broken six years earlier, which resulted in numerous legitimate lawsuits against the archdiocese.
“Attorneys for the archdiocese alleged at least 30 co-schemers counseled one another on how to embellish their claims with lurid details and friendly attorneys to contact who would do little to try to corroborate their stories,” the Chicago Tribune reported.
Many of the group were West Side residents, street gang members, and convicted criminals, the Chicago Tribune added. In 2017, a judge found one of the claims against McCormack to be false, imposing a fine of more than $60,000 on the fraudulent claimant. Another claim was found to be fraudulent in 2023, resulting in a fine of more than $90,000.
However, the archdiocese still suspects that several existing claims have been fabricated. According to the Chicago Tribune, the archdiocese’s countersuit is not attempting “to clear McCormack’s name, and the accusations of false claims do not address his past victims.” Rather, the claim is an attempt to preserve efforts to make restitution to legitimate abuse victims.
“We trust and believe people when they come forward with abuse claims,” James Geoly, general counsel for the archdiocese, said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “These individuals have violated that trust and have attempted to take advantage of it. We have a duty to oppose claims we know are false to protect and stand up for real survivors of abuse who ultimately are the ones harmed by fraud.”
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