PHILADELPHIA (PA)
The Philly Post
By Kevin Cirilli
Waiting for Monsignor William Lynn’s hearing to start yesterday morning, I felt like I was back in Monday morning chapel at prep school: It was too early and too hot, and I couldn’t follow a damn thing.
There was also a nun. She comforted Lynn’s friends and family, rubbing backs, offering prayers. They showed up to see if Lynn would be let out of jail and put on house arrest while he awaits sentencing. Lynn is the highest-ranking church official to be found guilty of endangering children for his role in covering up Catholic priests’ sexual abuse of children.
The prosecution said last week that if he were let out of jail, he might flee to the Vatican. Defense attorney William Bergstrom said in court that Lynn wouldn’t screw his family out of the $100,000 they had posted for his bail money. “The family didn’t put up $100,000,” said prosecutor Patrick Blessington. “It was $10,000.” Judge M. Teresa Sarmina bought it, sending Lynn, 61, back behind bars while he awaits his July 24th sentencing hearing.
The nun burst into tears, dabbing her eyes with a tissue, her fingers intertwined with a silver rosary. “I just called the Vatican and told them to give up his room,” Bergstrom sarcastically quipped as he left the courtroom. Lynn was taken back to jail.
Perhaps the most hellish detail to emerge from Lynn’s trial was that his own records stated that he suggested to a pedophile priest that the priest was “seduced into it” by an 11-year-old altar boy. (You can read Lynn’s report here.) The sentiment blames the boy. And it’s a blame one of the young men whom Jerry Sandusky abused told jurors last month that he felt when he came forward. No one believed him.
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