From:
Carrie Kimball Monahan
Director of Communications
Essex District Attorney’s Office
Former priest Richard McCormick, 74, pleaded guilty today in Salem Superior Court to indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. Judge Timothy Feeley sentenced him to 8 to 10 years in state prison. The sentence begins today and he will not receive any credit for time he already served. He is currently serving an 8 to 10 year prison sentence following his conviction on 5 counts of child rape on November 12, 2014.
The Commonwealth reduced the charge from child rape to indecent assault & battery on a child under 14 after the defendant waived his right to assert the statute of limitations.
Essex Assistant District Attorney Kate MacDougall told the court that on different dates between June 1, 1982 and September 1, 1983, the defendant touched the victim in his anal area. The victim, who was 7 years old at the time, attended a camp in Rowley. The campers were allowed to use the swimming pool at the Salesian Brothers’ summer camp in Ipswich. The defendant approached the boy in the restroom and assaulted him. Following the defendant’s arraignment on child rape charges in August 2012, the victim saw an old photograph of the defendant in a newspaper and immediately contacted Ipswich Police.
ADA MacDougall thanked Essex Victim Advocate Amy Snow and Ipswich Police Officer Peter Dziadose for their work on the investigation. She also praised the victim for having the courage to come forward.
The defendant was represented by Attorney Victoria Ranieri.
