Philly DA Appeals Overturned Conviction of Msgr. Lynn

Newsworks
January 29, 2014

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/64343-philly-da-appeals-overturned-conviction-of-msgr-lynn


Philadelphia prosecutors have asked Pennsylvania's Supreme Court to restore a Roman Catholic church official's child endangerment conviction.

Monsignor William Lynn is currently on house arrest after an appeals court threw out his case earlier this month.

Lynn, the former secretary for clergy in Philadelphia, had been convicted of endangering children by transferring an abusive priest in the 1990s, reports the Associated Press.

According to court documents, prosecutors in the District Attorney's office continue to allege Lynn engaged in a pattern of concealment and facilitation of child sexual molestation by priests.

The Superior Court said last month he should not have been charged because the law did not apply to supervisors. Lynn was freed after spending 18 months in prison.

Prosecutors appealed to the state's highest court on Monday stating the trial judge correctly handled the case, but say Lynn could have been convicted as an accomplice.

Lynn is the first U.S. church supervisor charged for his handling of sex abuse complaints against clergy.

"We are grateful that Philadelphia prosecutors are following through with their work to protect kids by trying to get Msgr. William Lynn back behind bars," said Karen Polesir of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

"Virtually no one in the history of the Philadelphia Catholic archdiocese knows more about child molesting clerics than Msgr. Lynn does. He could have been a force for good. Instead, he was a force for evil."