Chicago Archdiocese to settle priest abuse suits for $4.45 million

CHICAGO – The Archdiocese of Chicago will pay $4.45 million to settle three lawsuits brought by three men who allege they were sexually abused over a decade ago by a former Roman Catholic priest and convicted sex offender.

Mark Brown, the plaintiffs’ attorney, told the Chicago Tribune that two brothers reached settlements in late January. They accused Daniel McCormack of sexually abusing them more than once during an after-school program at Our Lady of the Westside Catholic School in the mid-2000s.

The other man, who was a basketball player on a team McCormack coached, reached his settlement April 20.

An archdiocese spokeswoman confirms the settlement has been reached. She says she can’t discuss the case “out of respect for the privacy of those involved.”

Cardinal Blase Cupich, the former bishop of the Diocese of Spokane, is now the archbishop of the Chicago Archdiocese.