Priest in New Rochelle Arrested on MA Rape Charges

A priest was arrested in New Rochelle Thursday and charged with five counts of raping a child in the 1980s.

WCVB.com in Boston, MA, is reporting Fr. Richard McCormick has plead not guilty to the charges that he raped a Massachusetts child at an Ipswich camp in 1981 and 1982.

McCormick was held on $1,000 bail and must remain with the Salesian society home in New Rochelle, where he must report to probation weekly by phone, make in-person court appearances and have no contact with minors, WCVB.com said.

Robert Hoatson, with Road to Recovery, Inc., an advocacy agency supporting McCormick's alleged victims, said the organization has been working with nearly a dozen men who claim to have been abused by the priest.

"The arrest of Fr. Richard McCormick yesterday in New Rochelle, NY, and his return to the Ipswich, MA, area is a result of the courage of a McCormick victim, who reported his abuse to law enforcement and received a fair hearing," Hoatson said in a press release. "Thank you to that victim and the law enforcement officials in Massachusetts who followed the law which led to the arrest."

Hoatson called on Salesians to reveal the names of all accused Salesian priests and brothers and urged all former Salesian campers, students and parishioners to come forward to report any sexual abuse by Salesians to law enforcement.