Theodore McCarrick, a 92-year-old former cardinal who once served as the archbishop of Washington D.C., has been charged in Wisconsin with one count of sexual assault, the state’s Department of Justice said Monday. The charge stems from an incident that allegedly took place in 1977 in Geneva Lake. “The complaint alleges that McCarrick engaged in repeated sexual abuse of the victim over time, including the charged incident that involved the alleged fondling of the victim’s genitals while staying as a guest at a Geneva Lake residence,” the department said. It follows several similar allegations made against McCarrick in recent years. Once the most powerful cardinal in the U.S., McCarrick was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after allegations of decades of sexual abuse. In a statement, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul thanked survivors for coming foward and encouraged others to make a report through the DOJ’s victim services specialist.
