PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By John P. Martin and Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
Midway through his cross-examination Thursday, Msgr. William J. Lynn sat deflated on the witness stand.
Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington had spent a second day battering Lynn over his handling of complaints of clergy sex abuse.
Lynn tried to press back. Blessington, he said, was “wordsmithing,” twisting his statements, ignoring his replies, and being unfair.
But the prosecutor was relentless. As the church official responsible for investigating accused priests, Blessington said, Lynn had lied, lied, and lied some more – to victims, police, and parishioners across the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. When Blessington said Lynn intentionally misled a grand jury, the monsignor shook his head, exasperated.
“No,” Lynn sighed quietly, dropping his gaze and letting the word linger, as the prosecutor loaded another round.
The questions weren’t a surprise.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.