Fewer priest accusers to testify at ex-official’s retrial
PHILADELPHIA >> A former church official in Philadelphia must decide this week whether to be retried on child endangerment charges or seek further appeals.
Prosecutors are seeking to retry Monsignor William Lynn although he has served nearly three years of a three- to six-year sentence in a child endangerment case.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ultimately threw out his 2012 conviction over weeks of testimony from 23 priest abuse victims not directly tied to his case.
This time, prosecutors asked to introduce complaints about nine other priests to try to show that Lynn helped the Roman Catholic church cover up abuse complaints and keep problem priests on the job. Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Gwendolyn Bright ruled on Tuesday that one can be admitted, and delayed a decision on three others.
She did not set a trial date to give the defense time to consider appealing her decision not to dismiss the case. Lynn plans to decide by Friday.
Lynn, 66, is accused of endangering an altar boy who said he was assaulted by a parish priest in 1998. The priest had been transferred to the parish despite earlier complaints that he was molesting children. The altar boy told jurors he also was abused by another priest and his Catholic school teacher. They were convicted at a separate trial.
Lynn’s lawyers hope to introduce psychiatric evidence at the retrial that questions the young man’s credibility. He has battled drug addiction for many years. After Lynn was convicted, he reached a civil settlement with the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for an undisclosed sum.