Editorial: Painful Similarities between Archdiocese, Psu

Daily Times
July 15, 2012

http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2012/07/15/opinion/doc5003796f0cf04828294627.txt

Since the sickening news broke last November of alleged sexual abuse of minors by Penn State University ex-assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, the similarities with the clerical sexual abuse cases in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia have been painfully apparent.

Sandusky, who recently was convicted of sexually assaulting 10 boys over a period of 15 years, continued to have access to boys on campus even after Penn State officials were informed of suspected assaults. More than 60 priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia allegedly assaulted children over six decades and were reported to church officials who, in many cases, gave them continued access to children by simply moving them from parish to unsuspecting parish.

In both instances, it took grand jury investigations to bring these disturbing allegations and subsequent cover-ups to light.

But in recent weeks what some have dismissed as mere speculation has been confirmed in both the archdiocesan and Penn State sex abuse scandals.

On June 22, a Philadelphia jury found the Rev. Monsignor William Lynn guilty of one felony count of endangering the welfare of children. His conviction was connected to a victim of former Haverford resident Edward Avery, a priest who was defrocked in 2006 because church officials found allegations of sexual abuse against him credible. He was to be Lynn's co-defendant but pleaded guilty to abusing an altar boy in 1999 just four days before the trial started March 26. Avery is serving two-and-a-half to five years in prison. Lynn is awaiting sentencing.

The 61-year-old monsignor, who served as secretary of clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under former Philadelphia Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, was responsible for the disposition of abusive priests. While Lynn was just convicted in the Avery case, testimony by 12 alleged abuse victims revealed a pattern of cover-ups by archdiocesan officials.

Just hours after Lynn was convicted in Philadelphia, Sandusky was found guilty in Centre County of 45 counts of sexual abuse involving 10 boys. The 68-year-old former Penn State defensive coach is awaiting sentencing.

During Lynn's trial, jurors learned that the monsignor had assembled a "secret file" of known or suspected pedophile priests that, in 1994, Bevilacqua — a canon and a civil attorney — ordered shredded. Prosecutors got to see the list after a copy of it was found this year in an archdiocesan safe. Clearly, archdiocesan officials were aware of the allegedly abusive clerics.

In the same vein, Penn State University officials were aware of abuse allegations against Sandusky for at least 14 years and still gave him access to campus, according to a 267-report resulting from an investigation by former FBI Director Louis Freeh and his firm.

Freeh was hired eight months ago by university trustees to investigate how these abuse allegations were handled by such university officials as fired president Graham Spanier, vice president Gary Schultz, athletic director Timothy Curley and legendary football coach Joe Paterno, who was fired in November in the wake of the scandal and died of cancer in January.

After a mother complained to them in 1998 of Sandusky showering with her son, Schultz reportedly expressed concern about the incident opening "Pandora's box." A year later at age 55, Sandusky was allowed to retire "not as a suspected child predator, but as a valued member of the Penn State football legacy, with future 'visibility' at Penn State," allowing him to groom victims, according to Freeh's report. Sandusky was given a locker room office on campus for his Second Mile charity for disadvantaged youth from which he culled most of his victims.

Even when university officials did kick Sandusky off campus in 2001 after learning of a locker room sexual assault witnessed by a graduate assistant, they did not report him to child welfare authorities.

"The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized," Freeh said on Thursday.

The former FBI director's words are eerily reminiscent of those spoken by Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams about archdiocesan officials after Lynn's conviction.

"They never denied what the grand jury alleged — that they knew of the abuse and of the active attempts to hide it. They merely denied they bore the responsibility for those decisions," said Williams.

If there is justice, the analogy between the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Penn State will continue in the courtroom and the powers that be will be held accountable for protecting pedophiles.