PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Canada.com
By Daniel Kelley, AFP March 26, 2012
PHILADELPHIA — High-ranking Catholic priest Monsignor William Lynn protected the dark “secrets” of child-abusing subordinates, a U.S. prosecutor said Monday at the start of a landmark trial.
The trial of the most senior church official in the United States to be charged with covering up priests’ sexual abuse of children began under heavy media scrutiny in Philadelphia.
Prosecutors are targeting Lynn for allegedly shuffling two priests suspected of child abuse to other positions, thereby enabling the crimes to continue.
Assistant district attorney Jacqueline Coelho described Lynn as the “keeper of the secrets,” tasked with protecting the church from scandal and keeping parishioners in the dark. “The protection of children was the furthest thing from defendant Lynn’s mind,” Coelho said.
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