AFP
February 11, 2011
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| View of the downtown Philadelphia skyline |
Criminal charges were filed Thursday in Philadelphia against Roman Catholic priests accused of raping boys, as well as against their supervisor for failing to protect the children.
A grand jury in the city of Philadelphia, home to the sixth-largest Catholic diocese in the United States, investigated allegations of assault against two boys, and made the rare determination that the supervisor also should be charged.
Monsignor William Lynn, who as secretary of clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was responsible for investigating sexual abuse claims, was charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
"He had all the information he needed to protect them. Instead, he lied to parishioners and went out of his way to put known abusers into contact with adolescents, resulting in assaults against at least two more young boys," Philadelphia district attorney Seth Williams said in a statement.
"Let this be a clarion call. This behavior will not be tolerated," he said.
Advocates for victims have long called for superiors of abusers to face charges, but prosecutors say statutes of limitations prevent them from doing so. It is common for victims to wait many years before disclosing abuse.
A previous grand jury in Philadelphia concluded that prosecution of high-level clergy would be inappropriate because the abuse was decades-old.
"This time, however, we have far more specific evidence, within the statute of limitations, directly linking Monsignor Lynn's actions to the abuse of two new victims," the district attorney said.
Williams pointed out that Lynn "was not himself an abuser" but allegedly knew of credible abuse claims against priests, yet allowed them to continue in roles in which they had access to children.
The phone number for Lynn's attorney, Tom Bergstrom, was disconnected Thursday.
Lynn faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted on both charges.
Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia, said in a statement that he has not had enough time to review the grand jury's report.
"Therefore, I am not able to comment specifically on its contents. It is my intention to consider carefully and take very seriously any observations and recommendations of this grand jury," he said in the statement.
Sexual assault charges were filed against priests Charles Engelhardt, 64, James Brennan, 47, Catholic school teacher Bernard Shero, 48, and Edward Avery, 68, a priest who was defrocked in 2006.
The alleged crimes took place between 1996 and 2000.
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