PHILADELPHIA (PA)
PhillyVoice
BY CHRISTINA LOBRUTTO
PhillyVoice Staff
A report by a forensic psychiatrist suggests that a former Philadelphia altar boy known as “Billy Doe” may have provided “unreliable information” in a landmark 2011 sexual abuse case, Newsweek reports.
“Billy Doe,” who was identified in the Newsweek piece, underwent a court-ordered forensic psychiatric evaluation by Dr. Stephen Mechanick, a Main Line psychiatrist, in October 2015.
The 27-year-old accused two Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests and a teacher of molesting him at a Northeast Philadelphia parish in the 1990s. He told grand jurors in the case that he was sexually assaulted regularly by three men at St. Jerome’s Parish in Holme Circle, a traumatic experience that he said produced years of torment, drug abuse, behavioral problems and suicide attempts.
All of those charged were convicted, as was Monsignor William J. Lynn, the former archdiocesan secretary for clergy who was sentenced for failing to supervise a priest accused of sexual misconduct who later assaulted a then-10-year-old altar boy in 1999.
Newsweek obtained Mechanick’s report on “Billy Doe”:
The client is apparently immature and self-indulgent, manipulating others to his own ends…. He refuses to accept responsibility for his problems. He may have an exaggerated or grandiose idea of his own capabilities and personal worth. He is likely to be hedonistic and may overuse alcohol or drugs. He appears to be quite impulsive, and he may act out against others without considering the consequences…. Paranoid features and externalization of blame are likely to be present…. His manipulative and self-serving behavior may cause great difficulties for people close to him…. An individual with this profile is usually viewed as having a Personality Disorder, probably a Paranoid or Passive-Aggressive Personality. Symptoms of a delusional disorder are prominent in his clinical pattern.
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