PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Reporter
Jul. 24, 2012
By Brian Roewe
Msgr. William J. Lynn, seen leaving a Philadelphia courthouse in late May, was convicted of endangering children for his handling of priest abuse claims while secretary of clergy for the Philadelphia archdiocese. A judge sentenced him July 24 to a maximum of six years in prison. (CNS photo/Scott Anderson, Reuters)
For failing to protect children from a known predator priest, Msgr. William J. Lynn will spend three to six years in prison.
Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina read the former secretary of clergy for the Philadelphia archdiocese her sentence July 24 before a standing-room-only courtroom.
“You knew full well what was right, Msgr. Lynn, but you chose wrong,” Sarmina said, according to The Associated Press. …
Marci Hamilton, law professor and counsel in multiple abuse cases, was present at the sentencing. She said Sarmina’s statement, which at one point quoted Archbishop Charles Chaput’s Good Friday sermon, carried the theme that being a good priest does not make up for criminal endangerment of children.
“She really contrasted the Lynn that was secretary of the clergy who was, in her words hardhearted and callous, and the Lynn who was the parish priest, who was warm and compassionate, and she said the one doesn’t make up for the other,” Hamilton said. …
Survivor support groups also endorsed the sentencing.
“Considering all the kids whose innocence was shattered (or, in some whose lives were lost to suicide), we believe that Msgr. Lynn deserved the harshest punishment. Still, this sentence sends a powerful message: cover-up child sex crimes and you’ll go to jail,” said a statement from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
“The sentence should send a clear and direct message to all of the bishops of the Roman Catholic Church: they have failed their people, and given Monsignor Lynn’s defense they created and sustain a culture that fails their people,” said the National Survivor Advocates Coalition.
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