PHILADELPHIA (PA)
National Catholic Reporter
Mar. 26, 2012
By Catholic News Service
PHILADELPHIA — As two of his former colleagues prepared to face trial on abuse-related charges, a former priest of the Philadelphia Archdiocese was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison March 22 after pleading guilty to conspiracy and sexual assault of a 10-year-old boy.
Edward V. Avery, 69, who was removed from the priesthood in 2006, admitted in an appearance before Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina that he was guilty of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse in the 1999 assault. He also said he conspired with co-defendant Msgr. William J. Lynn, then secretary for clergy in the archdiocese, to endanger children.
Msgr. Lynn, who is not charged with any sexual wrongdoing, has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy and endangering children. Another co-defendant, Father James J. Brennan, is accused of raping a boy in 1996 and has also pleaded not guilty. Their trial was scheduled to begin Monday.
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