PHILADELHIA (PA)
News Times
By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press
Updated 1:19 pm, Friday, January 25, 2013
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A courtroom “littered with lawyers” has heard closing arguments Friday in a priest-abuse case that rocked the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
A jury must decide whether a 24-year-old heroin addict whose complaint took down a church official — and brought thousands of secret church files to light — is credible.
The policeman’s son came forward in 2009 with the stunning claim that he’d been raped by two priests and a teacher.
One ex-priest has pleaded guilty, while the Rev. Charles Engelhardt and ex-teacher Bernard Shero are on trial.
In closings, prosecutor Mark Cipolletti pointed out the many civil lawyers in court representing financial interest of the archdiocese, Engelhardt’s religious order, the accuser and others.
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