"Ex-diocese aide sentenced to 3-6 years in coverup; Philadelphia case sends a message about sex abuse" by Erik Eckholm and Jon Hurdle | New York Times
PHILADELPHIA — Monsignor William J. Lynn, the first Roman Catholic official in the United States to be convicted of covering up sexual abuses by priests under his supervision, was sentenced to three to six years in prison Tuesday.
“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong,” said Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina as she imposed the sentence, which was just short of the maximum of 3½ to 7 years.
Lynn, 61, a former cardinal’s aide, was found guilty June 22 of one count of endangering a child after a three-month trial that revealed efforts over decades by the Philadelphia Archdiocese to play down accusations of child sexual abuse and avoid scandal.
Lynn served as secretary for clergy for the 1.5 million-member archdiocese from 1992 to 2004, recommending priest assignments and investigating abuse complaints. During the trial, prosecutors presented evidence that he had shielded predatory priests, sometimes transferring them to unwary new parishes, and had lied to the public to avoid bad publicity and lawsuits.
The conviction of Lynn, now punctuated by a prison sentence, has reverberated among Catholic officials around the country, church experts said.
“I think this is going to send a very strong signal to every bishop and everybody who worked for a bishop that if they don’t do the right thing they may go to jail,” said the Rev. Thomas J. Reese, a senior fellow of the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. “They can’t just say the bishop made me do it. That’s not going to be an excuse that holds up in court.”
In a three-minute statement before he heard his sentence, Lynn, dressed in a black clerical shirt and white collar, said, “I have been a priest for 36 years, and I have done the best I can. I have always tried to help people.”
He said he respected the verdict of the jury, and he apologized to the abuse victim in the case at the center of his conviction. He turned toward relatives of the victim in the courtroom and said, “I hope some day that you will accept my apology.”
But he did not comment on the broader accusations that he put children at risk by repeatedly protecting “monsters in clerical garb,” as Sarmina described it at the sentencing.
The sentence was a victory for the Philadelphia district attorney, who said, in an impromptu news conference outside the courtroom, “Many people say that the maximum still would not have been enough.”
But Lynn’s lead defense lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom, called the sentence unbalanced.
Last week, the defense team asked the judge to spare Lynn from prison and instead sentence him to probation and work-release or house arrest. They argued in a memorandum that a long prison sentence would be “merely cruel and unusual” and “would serve no purpose at all.”
But prosecutors urged the judge to impose the maximum penalty. They told the court last week that the gravity of Lynn’s crime — giving known sexual predators continued access to children, causing lifelong anguish and damages to some — was “off the charts.” They wrote that Lynn had refused to accept responsibility and had an “apparent lack of remorse for anyone but himself.”
Lynn’s lawyers have promised to appeal the conviction, saying that the child endangerment law at the time of the events in question did not apply to supervisors and that the judge erred in allowing testimony about Lynn’s handling of priests who were accused of sexual abuse outside the statute of limitations.
Ann Casey, who attended the sentencing and said she had been a friend of Lynn for 36 years, said she believed he was a scapegoat and a victim of his intense faith in the leaders of the archdiocese.
“It was his vow of obedience to the church that landed him this morning in jail,” she said.
During the trial, Lynn’s lawyers argued that he had tried to protect children but his powers were limited, and that he had followed the instructions of the cardinal at the time, Anthony J. Bevilacqua. But prosecutors argued that Lynn played a central role in deciding how to handle complaints against priests and that “following orders” was no defense.
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"Inquiry reopened in ’07 Philadelphia abuse case" Associated Press July 15, 2012
PHILADELPHIA — Authorities in Montgomery County have reopened a 2007 sexual abuse complaint against a priest who taught at a suburban Philadelphia high school and is now the Catholic bishop of West Virginia. The complaint stems from Bishop Michael Bransfield’s days at Lansdale Catholic High School in the 1970s. The Philadelphia Archdiocese said it did not find the complaint credible at the time. Bransfield denies ever abusing anyone."
Related:
Monsignor asks for probation in Pa. case
Pa. priest accused of abuse will be retried after jury deadlocked
Marketing aids Catholic school rosters
Austria church mounts billboard search for priests
Sunday Globe Special: Stay-at-Home Sermon
I did, readers.
Speaking of pooper-pounding sickos:
"NCAA fines Penn State $60m, curtails program after scandal" by Pete Thamel | New York Times, July 24, 2012
INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA unveiled significant penalties against Penn State and its football program Monday, including a $60 million fine and a four-year post-season ban, as a result of the child sexual abuse scandal involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
The NCAA stopped short of shutting down Penn State’s program, but officials insisted that the breadth and significance of the penalties were nearly as debilitating. It is expected to be almost a decade before Penn State will be in a position to attempt to regain its place as one of the sport’s elite programs....
The university must also vacate all of its victories from 1998 to 2011, meaning that Joe Paterno is no longer the major college career leader in football wins....
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Related: Penn State penalties reveal NCAA’s reluctance to pull plug on football
A teachable moment for Penn State
Also see: Haverhill man charged with child enticement
Man files sexual abuse lawsuit against Harvard
Roslindale coach charged with child enticement
Yup, it's not just the football teams.
Of course, we all know it's about ejerkashun in AmeriKa:
"Cash-strapped Pa. high school puts itself up for sale on eBay" Associated Press, July 03, 2012
LANGHORNE, Pa. — The winner will not own the facility, which is part of the Neshaminy School District. But he or she will get a plethora of goodies, including a naming opportunity, a free large pizza, a personalized school coffee mug, and the chance to deliver a speech at graduation.
Not to mention the satisfaction of ‘‘delivering an education to a group of kids who could really use it,’’ said the ad.
Neshaminy officials did not return requests for comment Monday. The 7,000-student district has endured a pair of teacher strikes this year as the school board says it cannot afford to meet the union’s demands.
Learning Center Principal JoAnn Holland said in a statement, ‘‘I know it’s crazy, but with the good The Learning Center does, it’s crazier not to do it.’’
The idea came from recent graduate Casey Young, who knows a bit about unusual auctions: His dad, a writer, tried to sell their family on eBay in 2003. The ad was eventually yanked because the company prohibits selling human beings, but the stunt received a lot of publicity.
‘‘We did it as a lark,’’ Young’s father, Steve, said Monday. ‘‘Casey seems to have turned this into something that will result in something positive.’’
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Also see:
Pa. city workers will get full paychecks this week
At Pa. camp, a link to an ill-fated ship
Kidnap attempt video leads to arrest
"Man arrested over 3 deaths, abduction
QUINCY — Authorities in south-central Pennsylvania said a man confronting his estranged wife about custody arrangements of their child shot her to death and killed her boyfriend and his mother, then fled with the 4-year-old girl to before they were found about 250 miles away in Ohio. Kevin Cleeves was charged Saturday with three counts of criminal homicide in the Friday night deaths of Brandi Cleeves, 25, Vincent Santucci, 28, and Rosemary Holma, 55. Pennsylvania state police said Cleeves went to Santucci’s house and was asked to leave but opened fire. He then took the girl and fled. The girl is safe (AP)."
