Cupich cleared priest accused of child sex abuse, but allegation never investigated by outside authorities

The Archdiocese of Chicago announced last week that a Bridgeport priest accused of sexually abusing a minor had been reinstated after he was cleared in two independent investigations, but officials representing the agencies alerted to the claim said the alleged abuse was never probed.

After being presented with information that contradicted the archdiocese’s original account, a spokeswoman for the church revised statements she and Cardinal Blase Cupich made about the investigation of Father William McFarlane.

Cupich asked McFarlane to “step aside” from Nativity of Our Lord and St. Gabriel Parish after he was accused in July of sexually abusing a minor in 1997, which was before McFarlane entered the seminary. Church officials said at the time that they reported the allegation to the Illinois Department of Children & Family Services and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.

Nativity of our Lord website

In a letter to parishioners on Saturday, Cupich announced he was restoring McFarlane to active ministry after DCFS determined the allegation was “unfounded.” He said the archdiocese’s independent review board further decided the claim was without merit.

“At their meeting on Saturday, October 26, 2019, the Board found that there was insufficient reason to suspect that Father McFarlane had committed sexual abuse of a minor,” Cupich wrote.

Though DCFS spokesman Jason Strokosch acknowledged the agency reported the allegation was unfounded, he noted that investigators couldn’t probe the specific allegation from 1997 because the agency only looks into cases involving alleged victims who are still children.

“A DCFS investigation finding of unfounded does not reflect the validity of allegations made by victims who are no longer minors,” he said. “If the alleged victim is an adult, we look for current child victims or else we can’t do anything.”

Additionally, archdiocese spokeswoman Anne Maselli initially claimed the state’s attorney’s office had determined the allegation was unfounded. She later corrected that statement and said the accusation was merely reported to the prosecutors’ office.

Aviva Bowen, a spokeswoman for Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office, said the information provided by the church “was insufficient to refer to law enforcement.”

“Law enforcement conducts initial investigations into allegations such as these,” Bowen said. “The [state’s attorney’s office] did not conduct an investigation into this matter.”

The archdiocese didn’t independently report the abuse claim to police, according to Maselli, who cited a policy that only requires church officials to notify DCFS and county prosecutors.

In addition to the church’s revised claim about the state’s attorney’s office’s investigation, Maselli also said the cardinal’s letter erroneously stated that the independent review board met on Oct. 26. She said that meeting actually took place a week earlier.

A spokeswoman for the archdiocese’s review board didn’t immediately respond to questions from the Sun-Times regarding the date of the meeting and the board’s internal investigation.

The revelation that the date included in Cupich’s statement was incorrect came after McFarlane’s attorney, former Ald. Bob Fioretti, told the Sun-Times that the cardinal informed his client he was being reinstated on Oct. 25. Fioretti said his client wasn’t invited to the board meeting that ultimately determined his fate, adding that the entire internal investigation took place “behind closed doors.”

“We would’ve given a statement but we were not notified of that [board] meeting,” said Fioretti, who also said his client was never interviewed by outside investigators.

“The church has a very haphazard way of dealing with allegations against anybody at this stage,” said Fioretti. “The church has to be very proactive in terms of dealing with sexual assaults, but here is an innocent person who was caught up and his reputation is now in tatters.”

While Maselli noted that church officials are working with McFarlane “to determine his next assignment,” Fioretti said there’s been no indication where his client will ultimately land.

Reached by phone Monday, McFarlane said he is “happy to be back in the ministry” but declined to comment further.