PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC 10
[with video]
A Roman Catholic church official who has been jailed for more than a year for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints had his conviction reversed and was ordered released Thursday.
In dismissing the landmark criminal case, a three-judge Superior Court panel unanimously rejected prosecutors’ arguments that Monsignor William Lynn, the first U.S. church official ever charged or convicted for the handling of clergy-abuse complaints, supervised the welfare of any particular child.
“It pours salt info the wounds of me and every other survivor out there. Every other survivor,” said Phil Gaughn, who alleges sex abuse at Lynn’s hands.
Gaughn claims he was sexually abused by a priest at a Northeast Philadelphia church by a priest that Monsignor Lynn placed there. Gaughn has a pending civil suit against Lynn and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
“He’s been in prison 18 months for a crime he didn’t commit and couldn’t commit under the law,” said Lynn’s attorney, Thomas Bergstrom. “It’s incredible what happened to this man.”
Lynn, 62, is serving a three- to six-year prison sentence after his child-endangerment conviction last year. His lawyers will try to get him released as early as Thursday from the state prison in Waymart.
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