Convicted Philadelphia Monsignor Loses Appeal of Trial Errors

Last June, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania jury found Msgr. William J. Lynn guilty on one count of child endangerment for enabling or covering up clergy sex abuse by others. (See prior posting.) Now, according to the Legal Intelligencer (April 25), a Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas judge has ruled against Lynn in his appeal of various rulings in the case. In a 235-page opinion in Commonwealth v. Lynn, Judge M. Teresa Sarmina held that it was not erroneous to admit into evidence information about 20 priests whose files Lynn reviewed in his role as secretary of clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. In this role he reviewed sexual abuse allegations. The challenged evidence went to Lynn's knowledge that priests posed a danger and to his motive of shielding the Church from scandal. The court also rejected Lynn's argument that the child endangerment law under which he was convicted did not cover those who did not directly supervise children.