Priest at Center of Priest Sex Abuse Case Recants

By Joseph A. Slobodzian
Philadelphia Inquirer
January 17, 2013

http://articles.philly.com/2013-01-17/news/36396466_1_altar-boy-bernard-shero-william-j-lynn

Former Catholic priest Edward Avery on Thursday recanted under oath his guilty plea to sexually assaulting an altar boy in 1999, potentially undermining the District Attorney's larger conspiracy case against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

On the witness stand in the trial of the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and former teacher Bernard Shero - who are accused of raping the same 10-year-old altar boy at St. Jerome's parish in Northeast Philadelphia - Avery testified that he only pleaded guilty to avoid a longer prison term.

Avery pleaded guilty in March 2012, just four days before the landmark clergy sex-abuse trial of Avery's codefendant, Msgr. William J. Lynn. After hearing the testimony of Avery's victim, Lynn was convicted in June of child endangerment for placing Avery in position to abuse the St. Jerome's altar boy.

Lynn, a key aide to Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, was the first church official nationwide convicted for covering up or enabling clergy sex-abuse, and sentenced to 3 to 6 years in prison.

Avery's admission potentially plunged three separate cases into turmoil: his own, the case against Engelhardt, and last year's conviction against Lynn.

After hearing about Avery's testimony, Lynn's lawyer said he plans within days to ask a Superior Court or Common Pleas Court to reconsider Lynn's case.

"If there's a question about (Avery's) guilt, then there's no way you convict Lynn, because Lynn was only convicted as a derivative of Avery," said the lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom.

Bergstrom said he could ask Lynn's trial judge, M. Teresa Sarmina, for a new trial based on the newly disclosed evidence, or he could ask a superior court judge to free Lynn on bail while the new evidence is investigated.

Bergstrom said he believes Avery told the truth today. "I think they forced him into this plea and they made a deal for him that he couldn't turn down," he said.

Last summer, the lawyers lost a similar bid to win Lynn bail, arguing that Avery may have lied at his plea hearing. That motion was based on reports from Avery's lawyer that he had passed a polygraph during which he denied abusing the boy. But those results wouldn't have been admissible in court.

At the time, a ranking prosecutor disputed any suggestion that they knew Avery may have confessed to a crime he didn't commit. "To say that we knew he was innocent was, I'm sorry, it's insane," said Hugh Burns, chief of the appeals unit for the District Attorney's Office. "What we know is that he formally pleaded guilty because he had evidence that made him guilty."

Bergstrom said he learned about Avery's planned testimony last week. He said he also told Lynn in prison. "He's anxious, he's hopeful."

Today's admission could also impact Avery. He could be charged with perjury or making false statements, or it could affect his bid parole next year.