PENNSYLVANIA
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania – via BishopAccountability.org
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
EASTERN DISTRICT
CASTILLE, C.J., SAYLOR, EAKIN, BAER, TODD, STEVENS, JJ.
COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA,
Appellant
v.
WILLIAM LYNN,
Appellee:
No. 15 EAP 2014
Appeal from the Judgment of the Superior
Court entered on 12/26/2013 at No. 2171
EDA 2012 reversing the judgment of
sentence entered on 7/24/2012 in the
Court of Common Pleas, Criminal
Division, Philadelphia County at No. CP-
51-CR-0003530-2011
83 A.3d 434
ARGUED: November 18, 2014
OPINION
MR. JUSTICE BAER DECIDED: April 27, 2015
Following a jury trial on charges that he endangered the welfare of children,1 William Lynn (Appellee) was convicted and sentenced to a term of three to six years of incarceration. On appeal from his judgment of sentence, he challenged the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his conviction, contending that he had no direct supervision of the children he was found to have endangered. The Superior Court agreed, and reversed his conviction. On the Commonwealth’s appeal, we reverse the Superior Court, concluding that there is no statutory requirement of direct supervision of children.
Rather, that which is supervised is the child’s welfare. Under the facts presented at trial, Appellee was a person supervising the welfare of many children because, as a high-ranking official in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, he was specifically responsible for protecting children from sexually abusive priests.
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