Defrocked US cardinal charged with sexually abusing teenage boy in 1974

Theodore McCarrick is the first cardinal in the US to ever be criminally charged with a sexual crime against a minor

Theodore McCarrick, who now lives in Missouri, has been ordered to appear in Massachusetts for his arraignment on 26 August. File Picture: AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked after a Vatican investigation confirmed he had sexually molested adults and children, has been charged with sexually abusing a teenage boy during a wedding reception in Massachusetts in 1974, court records show.

McCarrick is the first cardinal in the US to ever be criminally charged with a sexual crime against a minor, according to Mitchell Garabedian, a well-known lawyer for church sexual abuse victims who is representing the man alleging the abuse by McCarrick.