PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
[findings and order – BishopAccountability.org]
[2011 grand jury report – BishopAccountability.org]
Joseph A. Slobodzian, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: Monday, January 7, 2013
It’s been almost two years since a Philadelphia grand jury probe of Catholic clergy sex abuse of children resulted in charges against four priests and a teacher.
On Monday – after last year’s landmark, three-month trial ended in the first criminal conviction of a church administrator for covering up the crimes of deviate priests – the last two defendants, the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and former parochial schoolteacher Bernard Shero, are to go to trial.
Prosecutors, defense lawyers, and Common Pleas Court Judge Ellen Ceisler will begin winnowing a large group of candidates down to a jury of 12 plus several alternates.
Lawyers for the two men wanted them tried separately from the other defendants. One reason was to avoid tarring the two in a trial that focused largely on church records documenting how archdiocesan officials for decades ignored victims to protect the institution.
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