Pa Priest Was Removed for Running Business, Not Molesting Children

By Bridgette P
Lez Get Real
May 17, 2012

http://lezgetreal.com/2012/05/pa-priest-was-removed-for-running-business-not-molesting-children/


Posted by: Bridgette P. LaVictoire on May 17, 2012.

Monsignor William Lynn’s biggest problem may end up being that the evidence against him comes from within his own church. Lynn is accused of and charged with endangering children and conspiring to cover up alleged abuse from various priests over the years.

Documents specifically relating to the alleged abuse by defrocked priest Michael McCarthy have become part of the case as the prosecution details how the archdiocese handled abuse complaints against some twenty priests over the years. None of the priests were ever charged because the complaints were never brought to the authorities. The complaints were kept locked away in the archdiocese for years.

The documents show that the archdiocese ignored the complaints until a donor complained about a competing business that McCarthy was apparently running. McCarthy has denied the allegations that he molested two young boys, including one at the house where he lives today.

The accuser informed the archdiocese back in 1991 about the abuse. McCarthy, then a teacher at Cardinal O’Hara High School, allegedly plied the minor with alcohol, removed his underwear while wrestling, and fondled the young man in bed. The youth did not complain fearing that he would be retaliated against.

At the time, Lynn was subordinate to Monsignor James Molloy, and would succeed him as secretary for the clergy the next year. Lynn’s memo of a meeting states that Molloy assured the accuser that McCarthy was unlikely to retaliate given past cases. In 1983, a mother filed a complaint against McCarthy. A note in the margin apparently from Molloy reads “Unnecessary statement. Never admit to a victim that there have been other cases.” This means that they were covering something up.

Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua promoted McCarthy the following year to lead a parish in Norristown, and it was about that time that a travel agent whose husband donated $25,000 to the archdiocese complained about McCarthy running a travel business which had robbed her of bookings from within the parish. McCarthy’s fellow priests also complained about the man’s temperament, sexually-charged speeches, underwear catalogs and gay pornography found in his bedroom. In fact, an in-house raid found pornography and an homoerotic poster on his room’s wall.

McCarthy was then given a psychiatric evaluation, deemed to be an “homosexual ephebophile” (an ephebophile is someone who is attracted to post-pubescent youths below the age of consent), and put on “health leave” he remained there until 2006 when he was defrocked. According to The Edge:

On cross-examination, a lawyer for Lynn noted that McCarthy underwent a psychiatric evaluation in June 1992 – the very month Lynn became secretary for clergy. And he last worked at a parish in 1993, defense lawyer Jeffrey Lindy noted, even if he was still allowed to say the occasional Mass for family celebrations.

Lynn remains the only official of the archdiocese charged in the case. Molloy died in 1996, and Bevilacqua this year. Prosecutors could wrap up their two-month presentation this week. Jurors are expected to get the case before Memorial Day.