Deceased Father Judge, North Catholic teacher accused of abuse

By Shannon McDonald

The late Rev. John M. McDevitt, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, has been accused of sexually abusing Richard Green, the nephew of a former New York Cardinal, John O’Connor.

Green alleges the abuse took place in the early ’90s, when he was 14 and a student in McDevitt’s religion class at Father Judge High School in Holmesburg. Green, now 31, says McDevitt knew he was the nephew of a cardinal, and threatened to fail the boy in religion if he did not submit to the abuse, which took place several times a week over the course of six months. The suit also claims McDevitt threatened to physically harm Green if he reported the attacks to the police. Green left Father Judge after his freshman year.

The Oblates have offered Green counseling while the case is investigaed further. McDevitt was transferred to Philadelphia by the Oblates from Delaware, where he faced many allegations of molestation at Salesianum High School. McDevitt taught at North Catholic from 1971 to 1980 and at Father Judge from 1988 to 1993. He died in 1999.

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