Former US Cardinal Theodore McCarrick is charged with sexual abuse charges.
The former Archbishop of Washington has to answer before the district court in Dedham, as the newspaper Boston Globe reported on Thursday.
The three counts concern the sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy on the sidelines of a wedding at Wellesley College, Massachusetts in 1974. The alleged victim's attorney, Mitchell Garabedian, refused to go into details If so express.
His client cooperates with the public prosecutor's office "to give courage to other victims and to make the world a safer place for children".
Criminal proceedings against the 91-year-old have long been considered unlikely because Massachusetts has a statute of limitations.
According to the "Boston Globe" this does not apply to McCarrick because he was living in the parish of St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City at the time of the alleged act.
The ex-cardinal, dismissed from the priesthood by Pope Francis in 2019 after thorough investigations by the Vatican, now lives in Missouri.
"We're looking at this and will take a stand in court," said McCarrick's attorney, Barry Coburn.
McCarrick faces the indictment on August 26th.
So far, the once influential cleric has been able to evade criminal prosecution.
Several victims had sought civil trials in New York and New Jersey.
The ex-cardinal denies having abused minors.
In 2019, he told a reporter who tracked him down at a Kansas convent that he was not as bad as he was portrayed.
"I don't think I did the things I am accused of."