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Landmark US Church Sex Abuse Case Begins; Monsignor, Priest Plead Not Guilty

Global News
March 26, 2012

http://www.globalnews.ca/sports/world/landmark+us+church+sex+abuse+case+begins+monsignor+priest+plead+not+guilty/6442608062/story.html

The Rev. James J. Brennan enters the Criminal Justice Center, Monday, March 26, 2012, in Philadelphia. Brennan is charged with raping a 14-year-old boy in 1996. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia protected sexual predators in its ranks for more than 70 years, putting the church's reputation over the safety of children, a prosecutor said Monday at the start of a landmark priest abuse case that has shaken the Roman Catholic establishment.

The church kept secret files dating back to 1948 that show a long-standing conspiracy to doubt sex abuse victims, protect priests and avoid scandal, Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Coehlo said in opening statements.

Coehlo outlined the decades-old sexual abuse complaints to build a case against Monsignor William Lynn, who supervised priests as the archdiocese's secretary for clergy from 1992 through 2004.

Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged for his administrative role in the sex abuse crisis.

He is on trial with the Rev. James Brennan, who was charged with the attempted rape of a 14-year-old boy in 1996. Both entered not guilty pleas Monday.

Co-defendant Edward Avery, a defrocked priest, entered a surprise guilty plea Thursday to a sexual assault charge and will serve 2 1/2 to five years in prison. He acknowledged that the archdiocese kept him in parish work despite knowing of an earlier complaint lodged against him.

Coehlo said dozens of complaints about priests were in the locked files and nothing was done until the church's sex abuse scandal exploded in Boston in 2002.

"Victims are met with skepticism and priests are believed ... at all costs," Coehlo said to the jury.

The defence was expected to begin its opening statements Monday afternoon.

Attorneys for Lynn and Brennan plan to attack the credibility of the priests' adult accusers. That strategy took a hit last week when Avery pleaded guilty, confirming one accuser's account of a 1999 sexual assault inside a church sacristy of a 10-year-old altar boy.

Lynn handled priest assignments for the archdiocese. Prosecutors say he failed to act to try to remove Avery and Brennan from ministry despite prior child sex complaints lodged against them.

Lynn could get up to 28 years in prison if convicted of two counts each of conspiracy and child endangerment.

He has argued that he prepared a list of 37 accused priests in 1994 and sent it to Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua — who had it shredded. The cardinal died this year, but his videotaped deposition could be played at trial.

Philadelphia prosecutors blasted Bevilacqua, Lynn and other church officials for hiding scores of complaints that streamed into the archdiocese over several decades. Prosecutors detailed their findings in a 2005 grand jury report but said they couldn't charge anyone because the statute of limitations had expired.

But last year, they filed a second grand jury report based on recent complaints filed within newly expanded time limits.

Read it on Global News: Global News | Landmark US church sex abuse case begins; monsignor, priest plead not guilty

 

 

 

 

 




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