When 63-year-old Alan W. Wilmer Sr. died in December 2017, Virginia authorities needed to identify him and took a DNA sample – genetic material that six years later linked him to the killings of three people in the 1980s, officials said Tuesday.
— Read on amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/01/09/us/virginia-cold-cases-dna-resolution/index.html
Former US Cardinal McCarrick adjudged incompetent to stand trial in another sex abuse case.
The effort to try the 93-year-old Catholic Cardinal, Theodore McCarrick, on charges of criminal sex assault ended today in a Wisconsin courtroom when the former archbishop of Washington was deemed incompetent because of dementia. He did not attend today’s hearing, instead hanging out at Missouri facility for troubled priests. https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2024/01/10/ex-cardinal-mccarrick-declared-incompetent-criminal-assault-case-wisconsin/
Earlier this year a Massachusetts court dismissed a criminal sex abuse case involving the same victim, also ruling that the former Catholic cleric was unfit for trial. Way to run down the clock with the help of the Catholic church and your legal team, ex-Cardinal.
“There is no case that has ever emerged in the 40-plus years I’ve been in the trenches that is a better illustration or more powerful example of the Vatican choosing to protect one of the most powerful predators,” said Jeff Anderson, a lawyer who represents multiple McCarrick accusers in New Jersey. For survivors, he said, the decision Wednesday shows “that McCarrick has been given a free pass by the Vatican and legal systems; it sends the message that they and he are getting away with it again. Everyone is led to believe the coverup continues. Because it does.”
Washington Post, January 10, 2024 (see above link)
McCarrick is the highest-ranking cleric/pope soldier in the United States to be charged in the Catholic church’s sexual abuse crisis. Also from the Post article:
“In 2020, the Vatican released an unprecedented 450-page report about McCarrick that detailed how he continued to rise in the ranks even as his superiors knew there were problems. The report concluded that Pope John Paul II knew about and overlooked sexual misconduct claims against McCarrick, who amassed power and prestige in the face of rumors and sometimes written evidence of his sexual misconduct.” That report is extremely troubling. Here we are some four years later and the oldster continued to get old and apparently demented. Oh well, we issued a report–fuck it.
McCarrick may or may not be competent, but he will continue to chill at his bad priest fraternity. The church knew what this monster did and dragged its feet until he, now frail and allegedly useless to his own defense, takes the nutter off-ramp. I hope the civil suits continue. McCarrick was deposed a few years ago as part of these actions. Of course the deposition is sealed. Who knew what, when, along with this deposition, will guide the inquiry into liability.
Cardinals are apparently considered “princes” in the Catholic church and are addressed as “Eminence.” Spare me.
Michigan AG Nessel Releases Report of Alleged Abuse at Gaylord Catholic Diocese
Press release:
Report re Gaylord diocese:
I think it would be more accurate if the press release stated the actual sentence served, not just the tougher-sounding “range,” as some of those men are back on the street after a ridiculously short sentence. Quit giving these monsters deals, especially after a long, unindicted life of crime before they were actually pursued by prosecutors. If you’re old when you’re caught you might die in prison–that’s just the math. It’s not a reason to go easy on them. After all, they imposed a life sentence on their victims.