McCarrick case suspended in Wisconsin; AG Kaul continues investigation
Wisconsin AG Kaul must demand McCarrick file from Vatican
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1-10-2024
On Wednesday afternoon, a criminal case against now-defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick was suspended in Walworth County. Last April, Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld charged McCarrick with fourth-degree sexual assault following a report made in Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul’s statewide clergy abuse investigation. The charges stemmed from a 1977 assault against an 18-year-old victim that took place on Geneva Lake. The victim said McCarrick began assaulting him when he was 11-years-old, including during confession, family weddings, and family holidays.
Though not identified in the criminal complaint, James Grein came forward as the victim in the case to FOX6 News last April. There is another adult male included in the Walworth County criminal complaint. He is not named, however, in December, Grein identified this man to the Catholic News Agency as Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, the late Archbishop of Chicago. Grein said of the charges, “It was important to hear that somebody else believed me, and they were going to go forward with the charges, and it gave me great relief.”
Last month, the Washington Post reported that the Wisconsin case against McCarrick "appears to be dead" after Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld told Judge David M. Reddy that his office would not challenge the incompetency assessment brought by an expert hired by prosecutors to examine McCarrick. This same expert provided an assessment that led to the dismissal of criminal charges against McCarrick in a Massachusetts court last August.
In a November 22nd hearing in Walworth County, it was determined that McCarrick would appear by phone at Wednesday afternoon’s status conference. Though McCarrick was waiting on the phone, Judge David M. Reddy appeared to reverse his previous decision, saying it “wasn’t necessary.”
Because the state declined to move for a dismissal of the charge against McCarrick, the case has been effectively suspended, and McCarrick has been released from bond. A hearing has been scheduled for December 27th, 2024 at 3:00pm in Walworth County. In this period, the state has the option to move for a reevaluation of McCarrick’s competency.
The case in Walworth County is the only remaining criminal charge against Cardinal McCarrick.
Peter Isely, Program Director of Nate’s Mission, said the following, “The court’s misdemeanor charge does not represent at all the full extent of the years-long abuse suffered by the victim, but it was the only charge that could be brought in Wisconsin under state law at the time. But it at least would bring McCarrick to some kind of justice. For a victim to see his offender before a judge - even if that appearance is by phone - it can be a day of emancipation and liberation from carrying the awful burden of shame and secrecy that are an inevitable consequence of these crimes. Inexplicably, Judge Reddy did not give the victim that day.”
In December, Grein stated “I need to hear him speak because I need to hear his voice different from the voice that I know that he has.”
The global case against McCarrick is not finished, because his accomplices have yet to be brought to justice for the decades-long cover-up and enabling of his abuse. Among these accomplices are three popes and several senior officials of the U.S. Catholic hierarchy.
Sarah Pearson, Deputy Director of Nate’s Mission, said, “Since his 2019 lifting of papal secrecy, Pope Francis has not turned over any evidence from the extensive Vatican archive to U.S. justice officials who are currently investigating McCarrick’s crimes. Nor has he required U.S. bishops to cooperate with state investigations by sharing criminal evidence in their possession. Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul needs this evidence about McCarrick in his ongoing investigation of clergy sexual abuse.”
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