PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
[2005 Grand Jury report – BishopAccountability.org]
By Robert Moran
Inquirer Staff Writer
Msgr. William J. Lynn was a top aide to Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, but little was known publicly about him when his name first surfaced amid the initial allegations of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, as a church official investigating the claims.
In 2005, he suddenly became a central figure in a 418-page grand jury report accusing church leaders, including Bevilacqua, of failing to take appropriate actions when priests were accused of abuse. Lynn’s name was mentioned 652 times in the report.
He was found guilty Friday of one count of child endangerment, becoming the highest-ranking church official in the country to be convicted of such a crime.
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