CLERGY Abuse Plaintiff Seeks Judgment...

By P.J. D'Annunzio
Legal Intelligencer
May 14, 2015

http://www.thelegalintelligencer.com/latest-news/id=1202726465397/Clergy-Abuse-Plaintiff-Seeks-Judgment-Based-on-Lynn-Conviction?mcode=1395262324557&curindex=0&slreturn=20150415070522

The plaintiff in a civil clergy sex-abuse case is asking the court for summary judgment against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Monsignor William Lynn based on the reinstatement of Lynn’s criminal conviction.

Billy Doe, who alleged that he was sexually abused by priests as a minor, claimed in court papers that Lynn, in his role as an archdiocese administrator, knowingly shuffled priests accused of misconduct from parish to parish across the state where they could come into contact with children. The plaintiff in the case is proceeding under the pseudonym “Billy Doe.”

The Supreme Court’s April reinstatement of Lynn’s criminal conviction of endangering the welfare of children means that the archdiocese and Lynn can be held civilly liable, Doe claimed.

Lynn’s attorney, Thomas Bergstrom of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney, said he had not yet had a chance to review Doe’s motion, but he would file a response sometime before the deadline in early June. He declined to comment further.

Doe’s lawyer, Slade McLaughin, and the archdiocese’s attorney, Nicholas Centrella of Conrad O’Brien, did not return calls seeking comment.

Lynn is the first Catholic Church administrative official convicted of endangering the welfare of children abused by other priests.