PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog
Ralph Cipriano
Although many Catholic priests have been prosecuted and then convicted of abusing children, this trial is unique because Monsignor Lynn is the first Catholic official prosecuted and brought to a jury trial on criminal charges of endangering the welfare of children by failing to investigate and report allegations of child abuse. The only similar case in the United States involves Kansas City Bishop Robert Finn, and that case is still in its early stages, with a judge poised to rule on whether the prosecution can continue at all.
The prosecution of Monsignor Lynn thus raises a number of novel legal issues that do not arise in a typical child molestation prosecution, even one involving religious figures. In many ways, the prosecution is closer to a white collar fraud prosecution than a molestation prosecution, because Lynn’s relationship with the rest of the church is central to the case. In his opening statement, Lynn’s lawyer confirmed months of speculation that Lynn was going to defend himself by conceding that he knew about the allegations, that he tried to act on them, but that he was stymied in his efforts by others in the Archdiocese, including Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. As Lynn’s lawyer told the jury in his opening statement, “You’re going to see that Msgr. Lynn did his damndest to get a handle on this awful issue.”
To tell if that’s true or not, the jury is going to have to see inside the Archdiocese. Although the church itself is not on trial, on many levels it is impossible to separate the two. Lynn was acting in his duties as a church official the entire time, and was also a participant in many investigations of — or the failure to investigate — other allegations of child abuse. Lynn’s lawyers had argued strenuously for the court to exclude from the trial any evidence of other abuse allegations beyond those made specifically against his co-defendants, Priests Avery and Brennan, but Judge Sarmina denied that request, ruling that the prosecutors could bring in evidence of “prior bad acts” including Lynn’s failure to properly follow-up on more than two dozen other allegations of abuse by priests under his supervision.
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