Judge: Won't Dismiss Charges against Msgr. Lynn

By John P. Martin
Philadelphia Inquirer
February 27, 2012

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/140565053.html

A judge today said the discovery of Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua's 1994 order to shred memos about dozens of Philadelphia-area priests suspecting of molesting children is no reason to halt the upcoming conspiracy trial of one of his key aides.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina denied a defense motion after prosecutors said that the recently unearthed documents only strengthen their case that Msgr. William J. Lynn was part of a broader scheme by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia hierarchy to conceal clergy sex abuse.

"The newly discovered documents . . . are in fact the equivalent of a smoking gun for the prosecution case against Lynn," Philadelphia prosecutors wrote in a response filed this morning. "They show Lynn to be the most active participant in a well-orchestrated conspiracy among Archdiocese officials to cover up the sexual crimes of priests and to keep known child molesters in active ministry."

Bevilacaqua's order to shred the memo Lynn wrote about 35 allegedly abusive priests was disclosed Friday by the monsignor's lawyers. A copy of the memo and the instructions to shred it were discovered by archdiocesan officials in a locked safe in 2006, but not turned over to prosecutors until this month.

In a court filing, Lynn's lawyers say he compiled the list from the secret personnel files of hundreds of priests to gauge the problem of misconduct involving minors. He gave it to his superiors, but didn't know about the cardinal's order to destroy the document, according to attorneys Thomas Bergstrom and Jeffrey Lindy.

Lynn's lawyers say the shredding proves that Bevilacqua played an active role in covering up clergy sex-abuse, and that he lied to a grand jury when he said he deferred to Lynn's recommendations on how to handle such complaints. They asked Sarmina to dismiss the charges, claiming that had grand jurors known of the perjury, they might not have not recommended charges against Lynn.

"The only person who appeared before the grand jury and told the truth with respect to that list was Father Lynn," Bergstrom said. "The rest of them lied."

Prosecutors said the argument motion was legally flawed, and a weak attempt to taint the jury selection process, which was to resume on Monday.

"Oh, yeah, there was a whole lot of lying going on at that grand jury," Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington told the judge. "Some of the most pervasive and offensive was by defendant Lynn."

Lynn, 61, is the first Catholic church official nationwide to be tried for covering up clergy sex abuse. He faces conspiracy and child endangerment charges for allegedly recommending two parish priests for positions despite knowing or suspecting they would molest children. Those men, the Rev. James J. Brennan and a former priest, Edward Avery, are accused of each sexually abusing a boy in separate incidents in 1996 and 1999. All have pleaded not guilty.

Opening statements are scheduled to begin March 26.

Bevilacqua, who led the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1988 to 2003, died Jan. 31, about two months after giving testimony in a sealed pretrial hearing on the case. Prosecutors have not said if they plan to introduce that testimony at the trial. Lynn's lawyers have opposed such a move.

Contact: jmartin@phillynews.com