Lawyers: Prison for Msgr. Lynn Would Be ‘cruel and Unusual’

By John P. Martin
Philadelpha Inquirer
July 19, 2012

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/163034226.html?c=r

[with poll: Should Msgr. Lynn get some time in prison?]

Lawyers for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest convicted of child endangerment today urged a judge to spare him from prison, arguing that Msgr. William J. Lynn poses no danger to the public, has led a life of service and already endured unprecedented "public scrutiny, shaming and vilification."

Their motion, filed in advance of Lynn's sentencing next week, also notes that two-thirds of the Pennsylvanians sentenced for the same felony since 1996 have received county prison terms or less.

Lynn deserves the same, they said.

"A sentence of time-served, probation, work release or house arrest would ensure that Msgr. Lynn can still use his priestly gifts to improve the lives of those around him," lawyers Thomas Bergstrom and Jeffrey Lindy said in their filing.

Lynn, a longtime aide to Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, faces up to seven years in state prison when he is sentenced Tuesday by Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina.

Prosecutors from the office of Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams have pledged to argue for the maximum. Their sentencing brief is expected to be filed Friday.

Lynn's lawyers said such a lengthy term would serve no purpose, but instead "be merely cruel and unusual."

His three-month trial marked the first for a Catholic church official charged with covering up or enabling sex abuse by priests. As secretary for clergy between 1992 and 2004, Lynn recommended assignments for archdiocesan priests and investigated complaints of misconduct against them, including child sex abuse.

The jury found him guilty of child endangerment for not removing from active ministry a parish priest, Edward Avery, in the 1990s after learning that Avery had once molested a teen.

Avery later pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy at a Northeast Philadelphia parish in 1999 and is serving 2 ? to five years in state prison.

The jury acquitted Lynn of other conspiracy and endangerment charges, and deadlocked on charges against his codefendant, former parish priest James J. Brennan.

After the June 22 verdict, Sarmina ordered Lynn jailed without bail.

His lawyers have vowed appeals on several fronts, which was one reason they asked the sentencing date to be moved up. Among other things, they contend that prosecutors misapplied the state child endangerment laws and that the judge erred by allowing prosecutors to introduce evidence about area priests who molested children years or even decades before Lynn became secretary for clergy.

In their memo, the lawyers renewed their contention that he was following recommendations of psychologists who evaluated and treated Avery after he was accused of abusing a teen in the 1970s.

Lynn then allowed Avery to live at St. Jerome parish, restricted his work to a hospital chaplaincy and set up an "aftercare" team to monitor him.

"The extent to which Msgr. Lynn worked to neutralize any danger that Avery posed cannot be overlooked in determining the severity of his sentence," the motion states. "Msgr. Lynn did not suspect, and had many valid reasons not to suspect, that Avery was anything but rehabilitated."

The lawyers noted that case put an unprecedented spotlight on the 61-year-old priest. But they said the scrutiny began a decade ago, when he was vilified in the first grand jury report into clergy-sex abuse in Philadelphia.

"To say that Msgr. Lynn has not adopted and internalized the lessons of the grand jury and his subsequent trial would be absurd," Bergstrom and Lindy wrote. "The last ten years of his life were a time of reflection, penance and rehabilitation."

Contact John P. Martin at 215-854-4774 at jmartin@phillynews.com or @JPMartinInky on Twitter.