Defrocked priest and convicted child molester Daniel McCormack released from state custody
Defrocked priest and convicted child molester Daniel McCormack has been released from state custody.
According to the Illinois Department of Human Services, he was released on Oct. 7 from the state’s Treatment and Detention Facility for sex offenders.
McCormack was removed from the priesthood in November 2007 and pleaded guilty to abusing five children at St. Agatha’s Parish. He was sentenced to five years in prison and has been held at a state-run mental health facility since his release from prison in 2009. He faced additional charges in 2014, but those were later dropped.
A Cook County judge ordered McCormack to remain indefinitely at a state mental facility in downstate Rushville after he was deemed a "sexually violent person."
This May, an Illinois First District Appellate Court panel overturned the judge’s decision. The appellate court found that prosecutors failed to explain why McCormack had a substantial likelihood of reoffending.
An internal report by the Archdiocese of Chicago found 30 "substantiated" claims of abuse at the hands of McCormack.
The Archdiocese has paid more than $11 million to settle lawsuits involving McCormack.
McCormack is a registered sex offender and is listed as living in Chicago's Near North neighborhood.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.