Ex-Cardinal McCarrick, 91, pleads not guilty in sex assault

DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) – An activist says former U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick’s court appearance in a sex abuse case marks a new phase in the global struggle to hold clerics accountable.

Anne Barrett Doyle is co-founder of BishopAccountability.org and said Thursday that it would have been unimaginable 20 years ago to see “a powerful cardinal forced to answer to child sexual abuse charges in a suburban courtroom.”

The 91-year-old McCarrick pleaded not guilty outside Boston to sexually assaulting a 16-year-old boy nearly 50 years ago.

He has been defrocked and is the only current or former U.S. Catholic cardinal to be charged with child sex crimes.