Richard Sipe "outs" retired DC Cardinal McCarrick

It's interesting (surprising?) that Catholic World News would report on this accusation:

Richard Sipe, a former Benedictine priest and psychologist who has commented extensively on the sex-abuse scandal in the US, has accused Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the retired Archbishop of Washington, of recruiting seminarians as sexual partners.

Here is Sipe's statement.

A couple reactions:

• It is doubteful that Sipe would go this far if he did not think he could survive a counter-lawsuit saying that he is guilty of libel for making these claims. By the same token, however, the failure of McCarrick to bring such a lawsuit should not automatically be taken as an admission of guilt on his part.
• I don't know much about Richard Sipe, but it appears he has taken some of his advocacy on behalf of uncovering abusive priests too far. For instance, he thinks clergy celibacy should be repealed.

In posting this story, I'm not trying to take a position on the veracity of Sipe's claims, or the prudence of addressing the situation in the way he chose (publicly). CWNews has already let the story out of the bag.