PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inqurer
By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Msgr. William J. Lynn took the stand today to testify in his own defense at Philadelphia’s landmark clergy sex abuse trial.
Lynn began testifying shortly after 11 a.m.
His relatives and supporters filled four rows in the third floor courtroom at the Criminal Justice Center as he was sworn in as a witness in his own defense.
The potentially risky decision sets the stage for dramatic testimony from the lead defendant in the unprecedented case about how the Archdiocese of Philadelphia responded to clergy sex abuse claims.
For eight weeks, prosecutors called a parade of witnesses in an effort to portray Lynn as the church official most responsible for failing to remove priests from parishes despite credible evidence they had molested minors or might molest them. As Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua’s secretary for clergy between 1992 and 2004, he is charged with endangerment for allegedly ignoring such signs about two priests who prosecutors say each later sexually assaulted a boy.
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