Priest Abuse Blog in the Media

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Priest Abuse Trial Blog

Ralph Cipriano

There’s an exhaustive and authoritative new website that catalogues everything that moved during the priest abuse trial:

BishopAccountability.org timeline

Here’s what the introduction to the site says:

“The trial of Msgr. William J. Lynn and Rev. James J. Brennan in Philadelphia was complex and lengthy, and its conclusion was a watershed event: the first conviction of a church official for child endangerment. During the trial, witnesses and exhibits provided the jury with information on 21 other accused priests whom Lynn had managed.” …

— The judge during deliberations completely reversed herself overnight on the key issue of whether Msgr. Lynn had to have acted with criminal intent in order to have been found guilty of conspiring to endanger the welfare of children.

How was that not a story? A judge doing a complete reversal on key jury instructions regarding whether the main defendant had to act with criminal intent? How’d they miss that one?

If you’re doing this job right, at some point, you’re gonna piss everybody off. At various points during the trial, we’ve enraged the victims’ groups, the defense lawyers thought we hated them, we’ve ripped the judge, and now the prosecutors aren’t speaking to us. Get over it guys.

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