PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Wall Street Journal
By PETER LOFTUS
A Philadelphia judge denied a request that a Roman Catholic monsignor recently convicted of child endangerment be released from jail to house arrest while awaiting sentencing.
Judge M. Teresa Sarmina did, however, agree Thursday to a request by Msgr. William Lynn’s defense attorneys to move up his sentencing hearing to July 24 from Aug. 13. The 61-year-old faces 3½ years to seven years in prison.
Msgr. Lynn, who served as secretary for clergy in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004, was jailed June 22 after a jury found him guilty of one count of child endangerment for allowing a priest to take a new assignment involving contact with children even after learning of allegations that he had engaged in inappropriate contact with at least one minor.
It was the first conviction of a U.S. Catholic official related to allegations of covering up sex-abuse complaints. His lawyers have said they are likely to appeal the conviction.
Defense attorneys had requested that Msgr. Lynn be released from jail to live with a relative until his sentencing date. Msgr. Lynn offered to waive his right to contest extradition, to alleviate concerns raised by Philadelphia prosecutors that he was at risk of fleeing to the Vatican while on house arrest.
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.