PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) — A Pennsylvania
court overturned the conviction of the first senior U.S. Roman Catholic
Church official to be found guilty of covering up child sex abuse by a
priest and ordered he be freed on Thursday.
Monsignor William Lynn was convicted in June 2012 of endangering
the welfare of a child by reassigning a priest with a history of
sexual abuse to a Philadelphia parish that was unaware of his past.
That priest, Edward Avery, later pleaded guilty to sexually
assaulting a 10-year-old altar boy in the Philadelphia parish. Lynn,
who was not accused of personally molesting children, was sentenced
to a three-to-six-year prison term.
On Thursday, a unanimous Superior Court of Pennsylvania appeals
panel reversed Lynn's conviction and ordered him discharged from
prison, saying the case was "not supported by sufficient evidence."
Lynn's attorney, Thomas Bergstrom, said the ruling demonstrated Lynn
should never have been prosecuted, and added he expects Lynn to be
released within days.
Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said in a statement he
would most likely appeal.
Lynn served as secretary for clergy for the Philadelphia Archdiocese
from 1992 to 2004 and, in that role, had access to the archdiocese's
secret archives — a repository of information on infractions by its
priests — according to the court papers.
While not empowered to reassign or remove priests, Lynn was charged
with passing information to higher church authorities.
"SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE"
In 1994, Lynn began a review of sexual abuse by priests, including
allegations Avery had groped an altar server repeatedly. Lynn placed
Avery's name on a list of priests who were "guilty of sexual conduct
with minors," according to the court's decision.
Lynn eventually recommended Avery be placed as an associate pastor
and reside in a rectory at a Philadelphia parish. In 1999, Avery
twice molested an altar boy in that parish, according to the court
papers.
The three-judge appeals panel found Lynn had "prioritized the
Archdiocese's reputation over the safety of potential victims."
But it concluded: "There was no evidence that (Lynn) had any
specific knowledge that Avery was planning or preparing to molest
children" after he was transferred.
Lynn's lawyers argued on appeal that the law he was prosecuted under
was not in place at the time of the crimes.
The child endangerment statute in effect when Lynn was secretary
applied to "a parent, guardian or other person supervising the
welfare of a child under 18 years of age."
The law was amended in 2007 to include those who oversee the people
supervising the child, such as Lynn.
In a statement posted on its website, the archdiocese said it had
taken steps to assure the safety of children in its care.
"The decision by the Superior Court to overturn this conviction does
not and will not alter the Church's commitment to assist and support
the survivors of sexual abuse on their journey toward healing or our
dedicated efforts to ensure that all young people in our care are
safe," it said.
But the advocacy group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by
Priests (SNAP), offered a less optimistic perspective.
"Once again, another high-ranking Catholic official who repeatedly
endangered kids and enabled predators is escaping punishment," SNAP
said in a statement. "If kids are to be safer, we need to hold
employers more responsible, not less responsible, for putting
innocent children in harm's way."
(Reporting by Dave Warner; writing by Edith Honan;
editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
