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Senior Clergy Trial Prosecution Rests Case (Read 602 times)
falah
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Senior Clergy Trial Prosecution Rests Case
May 21st, 2012 at 1:48pm
 
Prosecution rests in Philadelphia Archdiocese child sex abuse trial


http://www.edgeboston.com/display/viewimage_story.phpid=133116

The prosecution rested its case on Thursday against Philadelphia Archdiocese Monsignor William Lynn, the most senior U.S. clergyman to go to trial in the Roman Catholic Church's pedophilia scandal.

During nearly eight weeks of startling testimony about the lurid lives of predatory priests, Lynn, a former secretary of the clergy, has sat stoically in his clerical garb as the case unfolded in an often-packed courtroom.

Lynn, 61, is charged with child endangerment and conspiracy over accusations he covered up child sex abuse allegations against priests, many of whom were simply transferred to unsuspecting parishes.

He faces the possibility of 28 years in prison if convicted.

The trial that started on March 26 has drawn a spotlight on the Philadelphia Archdiocese, the nation's sixth largest with 1.5 million members, in a case experts say is likely being watched by the Vatican.

Defense lawyers promised to begin their case on Tuesday to bolster Lynn's argument that he acted responsibly, reporting allegations to higher officials, but was overruled.

Lynn served in essence as the personnel director of the archdiocese under the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, the long-time archbishop of Philadelphia.

Bevilacqua, who died at age 88 just two months before the trial began, nonetheless became a key figure as defense lawyers repeatedly portrayed Lynn as merely carrying out the directions of his boss, the archbishop.

A grand jury that indicted Lynn and four others said in its January 2011 report that "Over the past two decades, Msgr. Lynn has put literally thousands of children at risk of sexual abuse by placing them in the care of known child molesters."

The trial has offered a peek into the inner workings of the church, with the most dramatic testimony coming from several men who said they were victimized as young boys by priests.

One of them testified against the priest on trial with Lynn, the Rev. James Brennan, 48, who is charged with attempted rape of a 14-year-old boy in 1996.

The accuser, now 30 and a former Marine, cried several times on the witness stand, describing a night he spent as a teenager at Brennan's apartment. He said the priest molested him.

"I was scared," the witness said. "I thought he would kill me or something. I didn't know. I was a little boy."

The same grand jury that charged Lynn and Brennan also indicted three others including defrocked priest Edward Avery, who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy in church in 1999.

Avery is now serving 2-1/2 to 5 years in prison.

A priest and a former archdiocese teacher accused of child sex abuse who face trial at a later date were also charged.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/17/us-usa-crime-church-idUSBRE84G1HD20120...
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falah
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Re: Senior Clergy Trial Prosecution Rests Case
Reply #1 - May 21st, 2012 at 1:53pm
 
Catholic Church Protected Molesterers:

Priest-abuse files kept behind lock, key, alarms at Philly archdiocese; priests stayed on job


PHILADELPHIA — Evidence in a groundbreaking priest-abuse trial shows the men running the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia used elaborate methods to keep sex-abuse complaints from prying eyes.

Memos unearthed from long-secret archives show the complaints were not just under lock and key — but guarded by locks, keys, alarms, safes and computer security programs.

One 1994 list shown to jurors Wednesday lists three diagnosed pedophile priests and 13 more deemed “guilty” of abuse, often because they had admitted it. Yet most remained active priests until the “zero tolerance” policy adopted by U.S. bishops in 2002. And some remained priests years later.


Monsignor William Lynn created the list. He was secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004.

Lynn, 61, is now on trial on child endangerment and conspiracy charges, for allegedly helping keep known abusers in ministry.

But the records found in locked safes at the archdiocese show that his predecessors likewise made lists of problem priests and gave them in the late 1980s to Cardinals Anthony Bevilacqua and John Krol.

Several years before Lynn arrived at archdiocesan headquarters, another official warned about the potential dangers lurking in the secret archives.

“I thought it might be wise to offer you a summary of these difficulties,” Monsignor John Graf wrote to Krol in 1987.

“I do not want to burden you, ... “ Graf wrote two years later to Bevilacqua, who had succeeded Krol. He reminded the cardinal that one active priest was a diagnosed pedophile who’d been labeled “a powder keg” by a church therapist.

Lynn’s list detailed whether the abuse occurred within the past five years — or if it was beyond the statute of limitations for the accusers to file civil suits.

Bevilacqua ordered a top aide to shred Lynn’s 1994 list of 35 problem priests, although a copy surfaced at the archdiocese this year, days after Bevilacqua died.

Other documents recovered from locked safes at the archdiocese contain handwritten notes about how to handle the mounting public relations crisis.

The cache includes a 1993 Philadelphia magazine on a lawyer planning a racketeering lawsuit against the archdiocese for its handling of abuse claims.

The word “Recon,” short for reconnaissance, was written next to his name.

Another note describes him as “tenacious,” ‘’not a lawyer’s lawyer,” ‘’anti-institutional” and “intent on trying cases in the press.” There’s also a dollar sign near his name, and references to him being a Catholic who had undergone a bad divorce.

A paper titled, “Respond-PR” suggests a media offensive that would reference similar abuse allegations against teachers and scout leaders, and tell parents of new policies and procedures the archdiocese was putting in place.

Defense lawyers for Lynn are expected to cross-examine a detective who testified about the secret archive documents when the trial resumes Thursday.

The prosecution could soon finish its eight-week presentation. The jury is expected to get the case before Memorial Day.

Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged over his handling of child sex-abuse complaints. He faces up to 28 years in prison if convicted.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/priest-abuse-files-kept-behind-lock-key-alarms-at-philly-archdiocese-priests-stayed-on-job/2012/05/16/gIQAFjQGUU_story.html
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