Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Priest charged with patronizing a prostitute

A priest from a Northeast Philadelphia parish was arrested last week on charges that he tried to pick up a prostitute in Kensington, police said.

A priest from a Northeast Philadelphia parish was arrested last week on charges that he tried to pick up a prostitute in Kensington, police said.

The Rev. Patrick McCormick, the parochial vicar of St. Timothy Church in Mayfair, allegedly approached a police officer posing as a prostitute as part of a citywide vice unit operation on Kensington Avenue near I Street about 11 p.m. on Feb. 23, police said. McCormick, 48, was charged with patronizing a prostitute and entered into the Accelerated Misdemeanor Program. He was ordered to perform 18 hours of community service and pay $200 in fines, according to court records.

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia called McCormick's arrest "deeply troubling" and said McCormick had been placed on administrative leave. - Staff report