PHILADELPHIA (PA)
CNN
By Sarah Hoye, CNN
updated 7:04 PM EDT, Mon May 14, 2012
Philadelphia (CNN) — A lawyer for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia testified Monday that church officials lied to him about the whereabouts of a hidden list of 35 priests suspected of sexually abusing children.
“Everyone I spoke to said they didn’t know where it was,” Timothy Coyne, former director of legal services for the archdiocese, told jurors at the landmark child sexual abuse and conspiracy trial of two Philadelphia priests. “Somebody lied to me.”
Jurors also heard from two priests and a paralegal from the law firm representing the archdiocese regarding items found in two separate locked safes.
One safe drilled open by a locksmith contained an accordion-style file folder that housed a memo ordering the shredding of the list of 35 Catholic priests accused or found guilty of sexual misconduct, the list of priests and other personnel documents.
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