Phila. priest arrested on sex-abuse charges

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer

JOSEPH A. SLOBODZIAN AND JOHN P. MARTIN, INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
LAST UPDATED: Thursday, September 26, 2013

A Catholic priest whose alleged sexual abuse of teen and preteen boys figured prominently in last year’s trial of a Philadelphia church official was arrested Thursday on sex abuse charges.

The arrest of the 75-year-old Rev. Robert Brennan, 75 – confirmed by a source close to the case – is to be announced at a news conference this morning by District Attorney Seth Williams.

Though Brennan was not charged as a result of the 2011 county grand jury report on clergy sex-abuse of children in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the source said Brennan has been accused by a man, now in his 20s, of sexually molesting him between the ages of 11 and 14.

The allegations against Brennan surfaced at last year’s trial of Msgr. William J. Lynn, the first Catholic church official convicted for his supervisory role in covering up the conduct of pedophile priests.

Prosecutors introduced details of Brennan’s case to show that Lynn and other Archdiocesan officials had a longstanding practice of moving abusive priests to different parishes where they were then able to prey on a new group of children.

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.