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5 Defendants Will Be Tried Together in Child Sex Case By Mensah M. Dean Philadelphia Daily News July 30, 2011 http://www.philly.com/philly/news/pennsylvania/126444358.html
THE FIVE DEFENDANTS in the Philadelphia Catholic church sex scandal will be tried together, a judge ruled yesterday. During the case's final pretrial hearing, Common Pleas Judge Lillian Ransom denied the defendants' requests for separate trials and most of their motions to dismiss conspiracy charges. Ransom also denied a motion by the attorney for Monsignor William Lynn that would have allowed the state Superior Court to determine if the endangering-the-welfare-of-children statute applied to Lynn. Thomas A. Bergstrom, Lynn's attorney, argued that it did not because Lynn's job had not required him to supervise children. Ransom did toss out a conspiracy charge against Bernard Shero, a former archdiocesan teacher. The charge accused Shero, 48, of having conspired to endanger the welfare of children with co-defendants Edward Avery, 68, an ex-priest, and priest Charles Engelhardt, 64. Lynn, formerly the secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is accused of transferring predator priests to new parishes, which allowed them to sexually abuse altar boys. He is charged with endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy. He is the first U.S. Catholic Church official to be charged with such a crime. Engelhardt, Avery and Shero are accused of rape and related counts for allegedly assaulting another altar boy from 1998 to 2000, starting when the boy was 10. Another priest, James Brennan, 47, is charged with conspiracy, rape and multiple related counts based on allegations that he raped a 14-year-old altar boy at his West Chester home in 1996. Last month, the five defendants rejected plea offers from the District Attorney's Office that would have put Lynn in prison for four to eight years and the others in prison for 7 1/2 to 15 years. The charges against the defendants are the result of a Feb. 10 grand jury report that laid out the allegations in graphic detail and denounced Philadelphia church officials for how they handled sexual-abuse complaints. deanm@phillynews.com 215-854-5949 |
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