PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philly.com
The oft-delayed retrial of the Rev. James J. Brennan — the former Philadelphia Catholic priest charged with attempted rape and child endangerment in an alleged 1996 incident involving a 14-year-old boy – has been delayed once more.
Jury selection was supposed to have begun Monday before Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Robert P. Coleman but defense attorney William J. Brennan Jr. – not related – asked for a continuance for “further investigation.”
Coleman agreed and set a new trial date of June 16 but marked the case “must be tried.” In judge-speak: no more postponements.
Brennan, 50, was one of the five original people – a monsignor, three priests and a parochial schoolteacher — charged in 2011 following a county grand jury investigation of how officials of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia handled child sex-abuse complaints against priests.
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