PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Fox 2
July 24, 2012, by Staff Writer
PHILADELPHIA CNN — The highest-ranking Catholic Church cleric charged and convicted in the landmark Philadelphia child sexual abuse trial was sentenced to three to six years in prison Tuesday.
Monsignor William Lynn, 61, was found guilty in June of one count of child endangerment, the first time a U.S. church leader has been convicted of such a charge.
He was given just under the maximum sentence he faced, which was three-and-a-half to seven years in prison for his conviction on the third-degree felony.
The trial marked the first time U.S. prosecutors have charged not just the priests who allegedly committed abuses but also church leaders for failing to stop them. Lynn is the highest-ranking cleric accused of covering up allegations of molestation and rape against priests by transferring them to unwitting parishes.
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