Father Andy's Big Gamble Pays Off

By Ralph Cipriano
for Bigtrial.net

Before he went to trial a second time, Father Andrew McCormick had a big decision to make.

The D.A., according to sources, was offering a pretty sweet deal. If Father Andy pleaded guilty to all the charges, he would be put on probation for five years and not have to serve a day of jail time. He would, however, have to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law.

As a Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a 10-year-old altar boy, Father Andy's chances of beating the rap looked pretty grim. If convicted on five sex charges, the 59-year-old priest was facing a prison term of 25 to 50 years, meaning he was going to die in jail.

According to sources, Father Andy turned down the deal, saying he was innocent and that his fate was in God's hands. No wonder Father Andy and his supporters, which included a couple of nuns, were often seen in the hallway outside the courtroom praying the rosary.

Today, the second trial of Father Andy wound up just like the first, with a hung jury. Just as she did on March 12, 2014, Judge Gwendolyn N. Bright had to declare a mistrial after a jury announced it was hopelessly deadlocked. Last year, the jury deadlocked after 4 1/2 days of deliberations. This time, one day short of a full year later, the jury deadlocked after three full days of deliberations.

The judge also announced that she was keeping in place a suffocating gag order for another 30 days, to give the district attorney time to decide whether to retry Father Andy a third time.

Is anybody really up for that? There were a few early signs that the answer might be no.

On Tuesday, the jury sent the judge a note saying they were at an impasse. That prompted the D.A. to sweeten the offer to Father Andy. If the priest would plead guilty to a single charge of corrupting the morals of a minor, according to sources, he was looking at no jail time, four years probation, and he wouldn't even have to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law.

But, according to sources, the priest turned down that deal as well, saying I can't plead guilty because that would be a lie; I'm innocent.

Today after lunch, the jury that had been impasse asked the judge for a read back on the testimony of the alleged victim. Specifically, the jury wanted to know whether the alleged victim's "clothes came off during the incident," the judge said.

The judge had the court reporter read back the testimony.

Once again, the jury heard the details of the alleged crime. How, 18 years ago, in 1997, the priest allegedly lured the 10-year-old altar boy up to his room in the rectory at St. John Cantius Church. Then, after he locked the door, the priest allegedly attacked.

Father Andy allegedly groped the altar boy's genitals and buttocks while he "helped me undress and he undressed too," the alleged victim testified on direct.

"His stomach was right up against my face," the alleged victim said. He watched as the priest slowly unbuttoned 32 buttons on his black cassock. Then, according to the alleged victim, the priest exposed himself and twice tried to jam his penis past the altar boy's clenched teeth.

On cross-examination, the alleged victim had to admit that in 2011, when he gave his first statement about the alleged crime to his grandfather, a retired detective, he said the priest "took off my boxer shorts."

When the alleged victim gave a subsequent statement to a detective from the district attorney's office, however, he claimed that the priest took off all his clothes but left the boy's boxer shorts on.

On cross-examination, defense lawyer Trevan Borum reminded the alleged victim that before the priest supposedly attacked, the altar boy recalled eating two cookies, right?

"Correct," the alleged victim testified.

And you remembered what type of cookies they were, Borum said, namely, two vanilla-flavored, cream-filled cookies, right?

"Correct," the alleged victim testified.

And you also remembered drinking a Dr. Pepper, right?

"Correct," the alleged victim testified.

Well if you could remember those kind of details, Borum said, shouldn't you remember whether the priest took your boxer shorts off or not?

"I was nervous," the alleged victim testified. He said he didn't recall telling his grandfather that the priest took off his boxers shorts.

"It was my grandfather," the alleged victim testified on cross-examination. "I was a little boy."

At the defense table, Father Andy stared straight ahead. In the second row of the courtroom, the alleged victim, a tearful, 27-year-old gay man, was sitting next to his grandfather, watching the replay.

For a jury already at impasse was this conflict in the testimony proof of reasonable doubt? It sure looked it.

By 4 p.m., after hearing the read back on testimony, the jury was back in front of the judge saying they remained hopelessly deadlocked.

The judge asked if jurors were confused on any points of law that she could explain to them.

"No," the foreman said.

The judge asked if there was any chance that further deliberations would result in a unanimous verdict.

"No," the foreman said.

The judge declared a mistrial. She asked the jury foreman to stand and give the result of the jury's deliberations on each of the five charges.

The district attorney had charged Father Andy with: involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child, indecent assault of a child, and corrupting the morals of a minor.

On each count, the jury foreman said, "No verdict."

The judge asked the prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Kristen Kemp, if the D.A.'s office had decided whether to retry the case.

A year ago when the judge asked that same question, Assistant District Attorney Kemp's immediate response was, "Yes, Your Honor."

This time around, Assistant District Attorney Kemp said her office would need 30 days to make that decision.

As the protagonists filed out of court, nobody looked happy with the results of a case where everybody lost.

Father Andy's career as a priest may be over, but he looked relieved that he wasn't going to jail.

Because of the gag order, he couldn't talk to reporters. Neither could his lawyer nor any of the members of Father Andy's loyal support group.

Before the accusation against Father Andy became public in 2011 the priest had been pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Swedesburg, Montgomery County, since 2004. Then, because of concerns raised in a 2011 grand jury report, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia placed the priest on administrative leave. At the time, D.A. Seth Williams said at a press conference that Father Andy had been suspended because of a boundary violation dating back to 2004.

The priest remains on administrative leave, meaning he can't administer the sacraments publicly or present himself as a priest in good standing. The archdiocese didn't contribute a dollar to Father Andy's defense, leaving the priest and his family to fend for themselves.

In the hallway outside the courtroom, after a private huddle with the prosecutor, the mother of the alleged victim hugged a relative. The big question out there was whether the family would be willing to endure the rigors of a third trial.

"Pop," the retired detective who took the first statement from his grandson, looked tired and disappointed. But because of the gag order, he too left the Criminal Justice Center without being able to say a word.

Ralph Cipriano can be reached at ralph@bigtrial.net.