PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Inquirer
AMY WORDEN, INQUIRER HARRISBURG BUREAU
POSTED: Tuesday, November 18, 2014
HARRISBURG – A Philadelphia prosecutor asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Tuesday to reinstate a criminal conviction against Msgr. William J. Lynn in a 2012 child sexual-abuse case.
Hugh Burns, chief of the district attorney’s appellate unit, said it was clear that Lynn was culpable because he had supervised priests who oversaw the care of children.
A jury convicted Lynn in 2012 of child endangerment and sentenced him to three to six years in prison for his role in a case involving a priest under his supervision who sexually assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy.
A Superior Court panel overturned the conviction, saying the endangerment law had been misapplied.
Lynn’s attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, argued the allegations predate a 2007 change in state law that for guilt required an individual’s having been been directly involved in supervising a child.
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