Press TV IRAN
July 30, 2011
http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/191523.html
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Clearing the way for what will be a landmark sex-abuse case, a judge ruled Friday that Monsignor William J. Lynn, former head of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's clergy office, must stand trial on a charge of conspiracy to endanger the welfare of children. Philly.com
Lynn, 60, is the highest-ranking member of a Roman Catholic diocese in the United States ever to face criminal prosecution over allegedly enabling and protecting abusive clergy. Philly.com
HIGHLIGHTS
Judge Lillian Ransom denied most of the pretrial requests made by Monsignor Lynn, two current priests, a former priest and a former Catholic schoolteacher. The men wanted their cases to be tried separately and asked for many of the charges against them to be dismissed. Usatoday.com
Lynn, is charged with conspiracy and child endangerment for allegedly transferring priests he believed to be pedophiles. Usatoday.com
Lynn, who served as secretary of clergy from 1992 to 2004 under former Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, is the only U.S. church official ever charged in the sex-abuse scandal for his administrative actions. Usatoday.com
The four others are charged in the same criminal case with raping boys in their care. Three of them are accused of raping the same child, starting when he was a 10-year-old altar boy in 1999, according to a scathing grand jury report released in February that blamed the church for knowingly harboring priests who abused children. Boston.com
The Reverend Charles Engelhardt, 64, and former priest Edward Avery, 68, are accused of raping the boy in the church sacristy. Prosecutors say former sixth-grade teacher Bernard Shero, 48, raped him during a ride home from school. The fourth defendant, the Reverend James Brennan, 48, is accused of raping a 14-year-old boy in 1996. Boston.com
FACTS & FIGURES
In February of 2011, Monsignor William Lynn, former secretary of the clergy for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, was charged with child endangerment, marking the first time that a high-ranking official has been charged since the eruption of sex abuse scandals nearly ten years prior. Philadelphia.cbslocal.com
In the United States, Roman Catholic archdioceses have collectively paid some $2 billion in settlements to victims since the priest sex scandals first erupted in Boston nearly a decade ago. Andersonadvocates.com
Just under 6% of victims abused in U.S. churches were 7 years of age or younger. 16% of the victims were between the ages of 8 and 10. 78% of the victims were between the ages of 11 and 17. Centerforinquiry.net
Around 81% of the victims were male; 22.6% were age 10 or younger, 51% between the ages of 11 and 14, and 27% between the ages to 15 to 17 years. Members.tripod.com
6% of all priests against whom allegations were made had been convicted and about 2% sentenced to prison at the date of the report. Examiner.com
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