PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News
BY MENSAH M. DEAN
Philadelphia Daily News
Daily News Staff Writer
Two of the three Catholic priests who will go on trial next week in the clergy-child-abuse case are themselves being victimized by their troubled accusers, defense lawyers said today during a pretrial hearing.
The two former altar boys who allege that they were raped in the 1990s by Rev. James Brennan, 48, and defrocked priest Edward Avery, 69, are longtime drug addicts with criminal records who have made false allegations hoping to improve their situations, lawyers for the two priests said.
They asked Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina to allow them to tell the jury about what they believe to be the alleged victims’ motivations.
Sarmina is expected to make a ruling tomorrow.
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