PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

Father Thomas F. Shea was “very emotional,” Msgr. William J. Lynn wrote in his secret archdiocese files. “Why now after 20 years?” the priest wanted to know.

Father Shea was upset because a former altar boy hired a lawyer in 1994 to press a legal claim against the archdiocese, saying he had had sex with the priest numerous times between 1972 and 1977.

Msgr. Lynn asked Father Shea if the young man’s accusations were true.

“Maybe it might be true,” Father Shea replied, according to the secret files. Then the priest changed his story. “Yes, it did happen,” Father Shea confessed. The lawyer for the former altar boy had also told Lynn about a second victim who claimed to have had sex with Father Shea.

Lynn asked if there had been genital contact between the priest and the two boys….