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Judge David Reddy's decision came after a Massachusetts judge in
August dismissed the only other sexual assault case nationally
against McCarrick, a former archbishop of Washington, D.C., who
was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019.
A defense lawyer asked the state court judge during a hearing in
Elkhorn, Wisconsin, to similarly dismiss the case in that state
against McCarrick, according to court records. But the Wisconsin
judge said he did not have authority to do that.
Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer for the alleged victim in both
cases, in a statement called his client "a courageous and
determined clergy sexual abuse survivor who will continue to
seek justice" through civil cases in New York and New Jersey.
A lawyer for McCarrick declined to comment. Prosecutors did not
respond to requests for comment.
McCarrick in 2021 became the only current or former U.S.
Catholic cardinal to ever face child sex abuse charges when
Massachusetts prosecutors filed that initial case. The Wisconsin
case was announced in April 2023.
He was expelled from the Roman Catholic priesthood in 2019 after
a Vatican investigation found him guilty of sexual crimes
against minors and adults.
A Vatican report in November 2020 found that McCarrick rose
through the church's ranks despite rumors of sexual misconduct
and that Pope John Paul II promoted him despite knowing the
allegations.
The Massachusetts and Wisconsin cases involved the same alleged
victim, who called McCarrick a family friend who sexually abused
him for years beginning in 1969, including during a wedding in
Massachusetts in 1974 and a stay as a guest at a Wisconsin cabin
on Geneva Lake in 1977.
In August, though, a Massachusetts judge granted prosecutors'
request to dismiss charges against McCarrick over the 1974
incident, after a psychologist retained by the prosecution
concluded she believed McCarrick had dementia.
That expert, Kerry Nelligan, the psychologist, said McCarrick
had "significant deficits in his memory and ability to retain
information" and that his condition rendered him unable to
meaningfully participate in his own defense.
After the Massachusetts case was dismissed, Wisconsin judge
Reddy appointed Nelligan to conduct a competency examination and
apply Wisconsin law in doing so.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Sonali Paul)
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