The Split in the D.a.'s Office over Billy Doe's [lack Of] Credibility
By Ralph Cipriano
I've got a problem, McGovern recalled saying to the official, whom he declined to publicly name. My client's been a priest since 1967. If he even pleads no contest to a misdemeanor, such as corrupting the morals of a minor, and just gets probation, he can't be a priest anymore. And that's the only thing that matters to him. He also happens to be completely innocent. The response he got surprised him, McGovern said. The high-ranking official on the other end of the line said, well there's a split opinion over here [in the district attorney's office] about whether the complainant is credible. "He's incredible," McGovern recalled telling the official about the former altar boy identified in the 2011 grand jury report as "Billy Doe." "He's a lying sack of shit." The official's response: "He shared with me that there were people in the D.A.'s office who agreed with me," McGovern said. They were wondering whether they should go through with prosecuting the case. McGovern himself is a former prosecutor; from 1980 to 1993, he was Assistant Chief of Homicide and Chief of Major Trials under former Philadelphia District Attorneys Ed Rendell and Lynne Abraham. So McGovern offered some free advice; he suggested to the high-ranking official in the D.A.'s office that the right thing to do on this case was to not prosecute.
McGovern argued that the high point of the district attorney's prosecution of sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia was its historic conviction of Msgr. William J. Lynn. The monsignor was convicted by a jury on June 22, 2012 of endangering the welfare of a child, becoming the first Catholic administrator in the country to go to jail for the sexual sins of the clergy. "That was the jewel in the crown," McGovern said. "Everybody else is a pawn." Including Father Charles Engelhardt. McGovern told the high-ranking official in the district attorney's office that they were taking a risk if they went ahead and tried Father Engelhardt. If McGovern was able to shred Billy Doe's credibility on the witness stand, "and the jury comes out saying that guy's a lying sack of shit, that's going to throw into doubt the validity of the Avery plea and the Lynn conviction," McGovern said. On the eve of the Lynn trial, co-defendant Edward V. Avery, a defrocked priest, pleaded guilty on March 22, 2012 to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a minor, namely Billy Doe, and conspiracy with Msgr. Lynn and other archdiocese officials or employees to endanger the welfare of a child, once again Billy Doe. McGovern offered to come over to the district attorney's office to talk about why they should not prosecute the case. But the high-ranking official in the district attorney's office warned McGovern that a reporter might see him there, so the district attorney would come to McGovern's office. McGovern figured there was one last thing he could do to convince the district attorney his guy was telling the truth -- he could "box" his client, or send him out for a polygraph test. The tests are not admissible in Pennsylvania criminal courts, but the district attorney himself used polygraphs as an investigative tool. So McGovern sent Father Engelhardt out to be polygraphed by William L. Fleisher, a former FBI agent, Philadelphia cop and forensic psychophysiologist used by the district attorney and the U.S. Attorney's office. Boxing his client was a risky move, McGovern conceded, but he made a similar decision on Dec. 3, 2010, when he advised Father Engelhardt to waive his right to self-incrimination and appear before the grand jury. But that's what you do when you know your guy is innocent, McGovern said. WHAT FATHER ENGELHARDT TOLD THE GRAND JURY When he testified before the grand jury, Father Engelhardt told Assistant District Attorney Mariana Sorensen how he was removed from active ministry on after Jan. 30, 2009, hours after Billy Doe told an archdiocese social worker that the priest had raped him. Q. When did you first learn of that accusation? A. Around 4:30 in the afternoon, I received a call from Father [James] Greenfield saying that the diocese had received a complaint and where I, at that point firmly denied [it] saying that there was no credibility to that accusation. It's nothing but a lie or a falsehood ... Q. Tell us what was your understanding of who the person was that was making the accusation against you? Did you know the name of the person? A. The name, but I have no knowledge of who the person is. If he's sitting in this room today, I can't pick him out. Q. Ok. A. I could never pick him out. So I have no idea exactly who he is ... Q. [By Assistant District Attorney Evangelia Manos] Is there anything you want to add, Father? A. Well, of course, you know, the accusation doesn't -- wasn't expected, you know, heart wrenching, you know and I found it to be a very humbling thing to be called on the phone by your provincial and say somebody's made an accusation against you, when you know, there was no truth or that was something unrealistic that was happening to you. So you try and figure out, you know, what could have brought it on ... FATHER ENGELHARDT'S POLYGRAPH TEST On July 31, 2012, Fleisher wrote a report to McGovern, explaining how he interviewed Father Engelhardt, discussing the allegations against him, before Fleisher posed three key questions: "While in St. Jerome's Sacristy, did you have sex with [Billy Doe}? "No," the priest replied. "Regarding [Billy Doe], did you have sex with him?" "No." "Are any of [Billy Doe's] accusations about you true?" "No." All three times, Fleisher wrote, the polygraph result was "no deception indicated." "It is my professional opinion based on the reactions to the formulated questions in this examination that Mr. Engelhardt was being truthful when he denied having engaged in sexual activity with the boy known to him as [Billy Doe]," Fleisher wrote McGovern. On Aug. 1, the day after the polygraph test of Father Engelhardt, the high-ranking official from the district attorney's office stopped by McGovern's office for a two-hour chat in a conference room.
McGovern said he took the official through all the grand jury transcripts in the case and the "mountain of inconsistencies" in Billy Doe's story. Then he handed the official the polygraph test results from Fleisher. "I boxed my guy yesterday," McGovern said. "Here it is." McGovern told the official, a Catholic, that he was hoping and praying he would do the right thing. "The right decision to make is right in front of your face," McGovern recalled saying. The official subsequently called him back, and said, Mike, I understand your position, but we talked it over and the district attorney says you've got to take it to a jury. McGovern said he told the official he was confident he would win the case, but he cautioned, you never know what a jury will do. "You're making the wrong decision," McGovern told the official. "I'm really disappointed in you." The trial, scheduled for Sept. 4, wound up being postponed. On Jan. 30, a jury found Father Engelhardt guilty on four counts: endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of a minor, indecent assault on a person less than 13 years old, and conspiring with Father Avery to commit sexual assault on Billy Doe. The jury could not reach a verdict on a fifth count, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child. On March 18, Judge Ellen Ceisler is scheduled to sentence Father Engelhardt; the priest faces a maximum jail term of 37 years. Tasha Jamerson, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office, had this to say in response to McGovern's comments: "The victim was cross-examined by two defense attorneys, and ultimately a jury properly found Father Engelhardt guilty of indecent assault and endangering the welfare of a child on Jan. 30, 2013. This office has full confidence in the credibility of the victim and the integrity of this conviction." Let's take another look at "the credibility of the victim and the integrity of this conviction." WHAT BILLY DOE TOLD THE ARCHDIOCESE ABOUT FATHER ENGELHARDT: On January 30, 2009, Billy Doe told Louise Hagner, an archdiocese social worker, that Father Engelhardt orally anally raped him inside St. Jerome's Church during an attack that went on for five hours, after which the priest supposedly threatened to kill Billy if he told anybody. Hagner wrote down Billy's account and read it to a grand jury on April 8, 2010: Father Engelhardt ... was the first one to abuse him. He [Billy Doe] said there was just one incident. He was in the fifth grade and the abuse happened in June after school ended. He had just become an altar server and was serving 6:30 a.m. After Mass, Father Engelhardt asked him to stay behind. Father knew he [Billy Doe] liked wine and he had a bottle of church wine and gave him a small amount to drink. Father started talking to him about sex. [Billy Doe] told him that he had a girlfriend. Father Engelhardt said to him, "I'm into boys." The next thing he remembered was that his pants were down and Father Engelhardt was on top of him. Father Engelhardt started grabbing him. Father pushed down on his [Billy's] chest with one hand and [Billy] was having difficult breathing. With his other hand, Father Engelhardt "jerked him off," then Father Engelhardt pulled down his pants and sat on top of him and made him perform oral sex on him. [Billy] said Father kept him there for hours and kept repeating the act. He added that Father Engelhardt flipped him over and kept ramming him. He explained that ramming meant raping him anally. [Billy] said he was there from 7 a.m. to 12 noon. He said he was in the little room next to the altar. [Billy] said Father Engelhardt told him if you ever tell anyone, I will kill you. He also told him that no one would believe you. Billy Doe subsequently told a grand jury he was high on heroin when he talked to Hagner, so he couldn't remember anything he said to her. ROUND TWO; WHAT BILLY DOE TOLD THE POLICE On Jan. 28, 2010, Detective Andrew Snyder drove up to Graterford Prison to spring Billy Doe out of jail. Snyder drove Billy back to the district attorney's office, where Billy's parents were waiting, along with Assistant District Attorney Mariana Sorensen. In contrast to what he told Hagner, this time Billy Doe described two sexual encounters with Father Engelhardt, both involving masturbation. There is no oral and anal sex, and this time it was Billy Doe who threatened to kill Father Engelhardt. Here's what Detective Snyder wrote down in his notes about Billy's story: While attending the fifth grade, [Billy] becomes an altar server. During the Fall and Winter, [Billy] is an altar server to Father Engelhardt's Masses. After one of the church services, Father Engelhardt asks [Billy] if he could stay after Mass and help Father Engelhardt. [Billy] stays and Father Engelhardt engages [Billy] in conversation. This conversation turns to a discussion of sex. Father Engelhardt tells [Billy] that sex is OK and that everybody has sex. Father Engelhardt then produces a pornographic magazine and shows these magazines to [Billy]. These magazines consist of both heterosexual and homosexual acts. Father Engelhardt tells [Billy] that God wants people to have sex, which is alright; people just don't like to talk about it. The conversation ends and [Billy] leaves ... Again, [Billy] serves Father Engelhardt Mass and is instructed to stick around. This time Father Engelhardt engages [Billy] in conversation, telling him how gorgeous [Billy] is and has [Billy] pull down his pants. Father Engelhardt proceeds to masturbate [Billy]. When Father Engelhardt finishes, [Billy] leaves ... [Three to four weeks later after Mass] Father Engelhardt masturbated [Billy] and had [Billy] masturbate him. [Billy] manages to avoid Father Engelhardt over the next few weeks 'till one day Father Engelhardt tells [Billy] that the "sessions" they had together were over [and] that Father Engelhardt thought that [Billy] had learned enough and that it was time for him [Billy] to move on. Although [Billy] claims to have threatened to kill Father Engelhardt if he touched him again. ROUND THREE; WHAT BILLY DOE TOLD THE GRAND JURY On March 19, 2010, Billy Doe appeared before the grand jury. Assistant District Attorney Evangelia Manos asked about a single sexual encounter with Father Engelhardt. This time around, Billy Doe said he was forced to strip before engaging in masturbation and oral sex. Q. Can you tell us about the first incident? A... I was serving a 6:30 Mass before school. He [Father Engelhardt] asked me to stay after Mass to help him out with something. He caught me before drinking the church wine. Q... What do you mean by that? A. At the end of Masses, we always have to pour out the church wine into the sink, whatever was left over, and most of us always drank it instead of pouring it out. Q. He caught you doing that in the past? A. Yes. Q. Did he ever report you? A. No ... Q. OK. So it was after Mass? A. Yes. Q. Can you tell us what happened? A. he wanted me to stay. He poured me -- he asked me if I wanted some church wine. I said yes. he gave me some church wine. He pulled out some pornographic magazines. He started to ask me if I'd ever seen them before or if I ever had a girlfriend, stuff of that nature. He started asking me questions like [if] I liked boys, if I liked girls, how does it make me feel to look at this? Well during that day, he told me it was time for me to become a man, and our sessions were going to begin ... Q. Now when he talked about sessions, did you know what he was talking about? A. No. Q. Did you tell anybody about this conversation? A. No. Q. Why didn't you tell anybody? A. I was kind of scared, and at the time, I didn't know what was going on ... Q. How long after this first incident did you serve in another Mass with Father Engelhardt? A. About a week... Q. What time of day was it? A. 6:30 Mass ... I did the Mass. I finished up. He told me to stay, my sessions were going to begin. He had me sit down on this little -- like one of the chairs, and he had me, told me to strip. I really didn't know what was going on. I started to take off my clothes, he proceeded to take off his clothes ... He had me sit next to him and he started to caress me, caress my legs. He told me it was time to become a man. Q. Was Father Engelhardt dressed or undressed? A. Undressed. Q... Was he wearing any items of clothing? A. Socks ... Q. Ok. When he called you over to him, did you sit next to him, did you sit next to him, or were you standing next to him? A. I sat down next to him ... He told me to come closer ... he proceeded to jerk me off ... Q. Ok. What happened after that? A. He continued to jerk me off and then he discontinued that and proceed to give me oral sex ... Q. Tell us what happened next. A. He instructed me to give him a hand job ... Q. Ok. What happened after that? A. He kept telling me I was doing a good job. He kept on calling me son. He had me get down on my knees and perform oral sex on him ... After he climaxed, he basically told me that I did a good job and I was dismissed ... Q. What did you do after this incident? A. After we got finished, I went to school. Q. Ok. Did you tell anybody about this incident? A. No. Q. What did you think would happen if you told somebody? A. I would get in trouble ... Q. Ok. What happened when you saw him again? A. He asked me if I was ready for another session. Q. Did you say anything to him? A. I told him no, and if he ever comes near me again I was going to kill him. For those of you keeping score at home, Billy Doe told the archdiocese, the police and the grand jury three different stories. He told the archdiocese Father Engelhardt orally and anally raped him during one session that lasted five hours inside the sacristy at St. Jerome's; afterwards the priest threatened to kill Billy if he told anybody. Billy told the police he had two sexual encounters with Father Engelhardt inside the church, both involving masturbation; afterwards Billy threatened to kill Father Engelhardt. Billy told the grand jury he had only one encounter with Father Engelhardt, where the boy was ordered to strip, and then engage in masturbation and oral sex. Afterwards, Billy threatened to kill Father Engelhardt. Which story is it? Is this what passes for a credible victim down at the district attorney's office? A drug addict who can't keep his story straight, a guy who's been kicked out of two high schools, been caught with 56 bags of heroin, and been in and out of 23 drug rehabs? WHAT FATHER ENGELHARDT TOLD THE GRAND JURY, PART TWO When he testified before the grand jury, Assistant District Attorney Sorensen asked Father Engelhardt about the duties of an altar boy, and whether the priest ever caught Billy drinking left-over sacramental wine. Q. What do the altar boys do after Mass. What are their jobs? A. Maybe to carry the vessels in the sacristy. Q. The vessels are what? A. The wine and water. Q. Ok. A. The wine and water. The cup, the chalice, the cup the priest puts the wine into. Q. Do you watch that they don't drink the wine? A. Do I? Q. Yes. A. No. Q. As the priest? A. No, that's the sacristan's duties. Q. Do you ever catch the altar boys drinking wine? A. No. Q. No? A. No. Q. Ok. A. Not that I don't -- not that I didn't know that some of them did, but [I] didn't catch them. WHAT BILLY DOE'S OLDER BROTHER TOLD THE POLICE Billy's version of whose job it was to dispose of the sacramental wine was disputed by his own brother. On Jan. 9, 2012, Billy's older brother gave a signed, 14-page statement to Detective Joseph Walsh of the District Attorney's office. The older brother, then a 26-year-old lawyer, had no direct knowledge about the alleged crime. But the older brother, who had served as an altar boy and a sexton at St. Jerome's, contradicted Billy on several key elements of his story, such as who took care of the sacramental wine after Mass, and whether priests were ever alone with altar boys. In contrast to what Billy told authorities, that Father Engelhardt locked all four doors of the sacristy during the alleged rape, Billy's older brother said the doors stayed open. A sexton is also known as a sacristan. Here's what Billy's older brother told Detective Walsh: Q. When you served the 6:15 a.m. Mass, who was present? A. The sexton -- There were two older men who were sextons. One of them would unlock the church doors around 6 a.m. The alter servers were supposed to arrive at church about 15 minutes before Mass began -- So, sometimes I arrived at 6 a.m. when the sexton did. When I went in, I would help out setting up the altar for Mass. The sexton would take care of the sacraments. We would go into the sacristy and put our robes on. The priest put on his vestments in a larger room in the sacristy and the altar servers room was separated by a doorway. The door was never closed -- it was blocked by a chair against it. Mass lasted about 20-30 minutes. After Mass, I would take off my robe and leave and meet my mom or dad ... [and they] drove me home. The sexton would remain and clean the altar and put the sacraments away in the sacristy. THE COURTROOM SCENE On the day of closing arguments in the Father Charles Engelhardt-Bernard Shero trial, it was obvious to many courtroom observers that with such a weak case and such an unstable accuser, the only thing the prosecution had going for it was emotion. That's why they plastered Billy Doe's fifth-grade picture from St. Jerome's on every courtroom TV, and left it up for every painful moment of the prosecutor's 82-minute closing statement. A closing statement that attempted to paper over all the holes in the case by inventing a whole new story line about Billy supposedly being groomed by his predators, a story line nowhere in evidence during trial testimony. A closing statement that attempted to cover-up all the glaring contradictions in Billy's changing stories by attacking the credibility of the archdiocese's hapless social worker, and by suggesting that the detective in the case had screwed up his note-taking. A closing statement that left even Billy's partisans convinced that the prosecutor himself didn't believe what he was saying. All the prosecution had going for it was a sob story, which if you chose to believe it, required the suspension of all rational thought. As for Billy, there was the kid that his former grade school teachers testified loved being the center of attention. He was seated in the third row, crying and carrying on, leaning on his mother and his fiancee for support. In case anyone on the jury was missing it, the prosecutor pointed out Billy in the crowd. And then he turned the lack of other victims in the case into a plus, by saying that nobody else had had the courage to come forward like sobbing little Billy did. It was like watching a bad remake of To Kill A Mockingbird, starring Billy Doe as Mayella Violet Ewell.
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