Theodore McCarrick: Defrocked US cardinal charged with assault and battery

A former US Roman Catholic cardinal has been charged with the sexual assault of a 16-year-old in the 1970s.

Theodore McCarrick, who was defrocked by Pope Francis after an abuse inquiry in 2019, now faces indecent assault and battery charges in Massachusetts.

He is the highest-ranking US Catholic official to face criminal sex abuse charges, the victim's attorney says.

The former Washington DC archbishop has previously said he had "no recollection" of any alleged abuse.

In the new lawsuit, Mr McCarrick is accused of groping and abusing the boy, who has not been named, for years.

According to court documents, first reported by the Boston Globe newspaper, the man alleging the abuse told investigators that Mr McCarrick had been a family friend.