PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
The trial of a Philadelphia priest and a former Catholic schoolteacher on charges they sexually abused a 10-year-old altar boy in 1998-1999 will begin Oct. 22 before Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Ellen Ceisler.
The new trial date and judge were announced today by Judge M. Teresa Sarmina. Sarmina, who presided over the earlier trial of Msgr. William J. Lynn, was forced to relinquish the case Tuesday when the trial was delayed by deaths in the family of one defense attorney.
Sarmina, one of nine judges assigned to handle only homicide trials, said she has back-to-back murder trials through next May.
Sarmina was specially designated in 2011 to preside over the trials of four priests and one teacher charged after a Philadelphia grand jury report about the sexual abuse of minors by some priests in Philadelphia and efforts by archdiocesan officials to cover up the abuse.
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