Start of Landmark Philly Priest Abuse Case Delayed

By Maryclaire Dale
KTAR
March 26, 2012

http://ktar.com/509/1519427/Start-of-landmark-Philly-priest-abuse-case-delayed

The Rev. James J. Brennan enters the Criminal Justice Center, Monday, March 26, 2012, in Philadelphia. Brennan is charged with raping a 14-year-old boy in 1996.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The high-ranking Roman Catholic official charged with shuffling predator priests to unwitting parishes has pleaded not guilty in front of a Philadelphia jury as the landmark case against him and a priest begins.

The trial of Monsignor William Lynn and the Rev. James Brennan began Monday morning after a brief delay. Opening statements are next.

A defrocked priest who had been a co-defendant in the case entered a surprise guilty plea last week following weeks of legal wrangling in the case. Defense attorneys had asked for a new jury, saying it could be tainted if jurors learned of Avery's plea.

Prosecutors say Lynn endangered children by moving dangerous clergy around despite complaints of predatory conduct. Brennan is accused of raping a 14-year-old boy in 1996.

Both men maintain their innocence.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

The start of a landmark priest abuse case involving a high-ranking official in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was delayed Monday while a judge weighed a defense request for a new jury after the abrupt guilty plea last week of a co-defendant.

Attorneys for Monsignor William Lynn and the Rev. James Brennan planned to attack the credibility of the priests' troubled adult accusers, but that strategy took a hit last week when defrocked priest Edward Avery entered a last-minute guilty plea, confirming one accuser's account of a brutal 1999 sexual assault inside a church sacristy.

The trial for Lynn and Brennan was scheduled to begin Monday morning after weeks of jury selection and pretrial wrangling. Both men were in court for the start of the trial, but the judge and jury were not.

All three priests were to be tried together before Avery pleaded guilty Thursday to charges related to an assault on a then-10-year-old altar boy.

Lynn, 61, handled priest assignments for the archdiocese as secretary for the clergy from 1992 to 2004.

He is the first U.S. church official ever charged with endangering children. Prosecutors say he failed to act to try to remove Avery and Brennan from ministry despite prior child sex complaints.

Both Brennan and Lynn have pleaded not guilty. Avery agreed to serve 2 1/2 to five years in prison for involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and conspiracy to endanger a child's welfare. More importantly, he acknowledged that the archdiocese kept him in parish work despite knowing of the earlier complaint.

Lynn remains the focal point of the trial. He faces a long prison term if convicted.

He has argued that he prepared a list of 37 accused priests in 1994 and sent it up the chain to Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua- only to have Bevilacqua have it shredded. The cardinal died this year, but his videotaped deposition could be played at trial.

The trial will be closely followed by Catholics across the country, including some who say their lives were destroyed.

Philadelphia prosecutors blasted Bevilacqua, Lynn and other church officials for hiding scores of complaints that streamed into the archdiocese over several decades. Prosecutors detailed their findings in a 2005 grand jury report but said they couldn't charge anyone because the statute of limitations had expired.

But last year, they filed a second grand jury report based on recent complaints filed within newly expanded time limits.

Avery's accuser said he was passed around by two priests and his Catholic schoolteacher at St. Jerome's Parish.

"When Mass was ended, Fr. (Edward) Avery took the fifth-grader into the sacristy, turned on the music, and ordered him to perform a 'striptease' for him. ... When they were both naked, the priest had the boy sit on his lap and kissed his neck and back, while saying to him that God loved him," the report alleges, adding that the kissing was followed by oral sex and penetration.

Lynn could get up to 28 years in prison if convicted of two counts each of conspiracy and child endangerment.

Defense lawyers plan to argue that the accusers are out for money or hope to explain away their troubled lives. Both accusers have criminal records and a history of drug addiction.