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Monsignor William Lynn “chose wrong” by obeying his bishop, said the judge who sentenced him to prison for three to six years for his handling of an abusive priest.
Monsignor Lynn, the archdiocese of Philadelphia’s secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, was found guilty of endangering a child. The charge stemmed from his handling of Edward Avery, a now-laicized priest jailed for abusing an altar boy during the 1990s.
Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said she believed Monsignor Lynn initially hoped to address the sex abuse problem and perhaps drafted a 1994 list of accused priests for that reason. But when his bishop, the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, instead had the list destroyed, the monsignor chose to remain in his job and obey his bishop — by keeping quiet — as children suffered.
“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong,” the judge said.
A copy of the list was retained and forgotten in a locked safe at the archdiocesan pastoral centre.
Prosecutors spent a decade investigating sex abuse complaints kept in secret files at the archdiocese. They issued two damning grand jury reports arguing that Monsignor Lynn and unindicted co-conspirators in the Church administration kept children in danger and the public in the dark.
“He locked away in a vault the names of pedophile priests. He locked in a vault the names of men that he knew had abused children. He now will be locked away for a fraction of the time he kept that secret vault,” said District Attorney Seth Williams.
Monsignor Lynn, 61, said: “I did not intend any harm to come to [Avery’s victim]. The fact is, my best was not good enough to stop that harm. I am a parish priest. I should have stayed [one].”
His defence lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom, called the sentence “grossly unfair” and “unbelievable”.
“He’s being punished for things he did properly: He met with victims, he met with accused priests, he documented everything, he sent it up to the cardinal,” Bergstrom added.
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Image: Clerical Whispers
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