Recanted Abuse Plea May Help Monsignor

By Peter Loftus
Wall Street Journal
January 17, 2013

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323468604578248220295044066.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

PHILADELPHIA—Lawyers for a Roman Catholic church official plan to seize on the testimony Thursday of a defrocked priest who denied sexually abusing an altar boy despite earlier pleading guilty to the charges.

The priest, Edward Avery, was testifying at the Philadelphia trial of two other men—one priest and one teacher—who are accused of sexually abusing the same boy. Mr. Avery, who is serving a 2 ?-to 5-year prison sentence, denied abusing ...