Jailed Priest Recants Plea in Philly Abuse Trial

Times Online
January 17, 2013

http://www.timesonline.com/news/state/jailed-priest-set-to-testify-in-philly-abuse-trial/article_927ff347-d2ad-5411-a78b-1f5f82b023a2.html

An imprisoned ex-priest at the center of a landmark Roman Catholic priest-abuse case in Philadelphia says he took a plea to a crime he didn't commit.

Seventy-year-old Edward Avery testified Thursday that he never touched his accuser, but feared a long sentence if convicted at trial.

The same accuser says he was raped by Avery, the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and ex-teacher Bernard Shero in about 1999.

Engelhardt and Shero are on trial. Avery's testimony could bolster the defense.

But prosecutors note that Avery still faces a civil suit, and could be harassed in prison for molesting children.

A jury last year convicted Monsignor William Lynn of child endangerment for placing Avery in a parish despite an earlier sex-abuse complaint.

Asked if he raped the troubled 24-year-old accuser, Avery said: "I did not. So help me God."