PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic church official was convicted of child endangerment but acquitted of conspiracy Friday in a landmark clergy-abuse trial, making him the first U.S. church official branded a felon for covering up abuse claims.
Monsignor William Lynn helped the archdiocese keep predators in the ministry, and the public in the dark, by telling parishes their priests were being removed for health reasons and then sending the men to unsuspecting churches, prosecutors said.
Lynn, 61, served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, mostly under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.
“Many in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia hierarchy had dirty hands,” said Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams. “They failed to realize that the church is its people.”
Williams said he did not have sufficient evidence last year to charge other officials, including Bevilacqua, who died in January at age 88.
Lynn had faced about 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted of all three counts he faced — conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment. He was convicted of only a single endangerment count, which carries a possible prison term of 3½ to seven years.
The jury could not reach a verdict for Lynn’s co-defendant, the Rev. James Brennan, who was accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old boy in 1999.
Despite Lynn’s acquittal on the conspiracy charge, the trial exposed how deeply involved the late cardinal was in dealing with accused priests.
Bevilacqua had the final say on what to do with priests accused of abuse, transferred many of them to new parishes and dressed down anyone who complained, according to testimony. He also ordered the shredding of a 1994 list that Lynn prepared, warning that the archdiocese had three diagnosed pedophiles, a dozen confirmed predators and another 20 possible abusers in its midst.
Church lawyers turned over a surviving copy of the list days after Bevilacqua died.
Lynn didn’t react when the verdict was read or acknowledge the siblings and other friends and relatives who have accompanied him to court for much of the three-month trial.
The judge revoked his bail and he was taken to jail. His attorneys plan to ask Monday that he be granted house arrest until sentencing.
No date was set, but the judge scheduled an Aug. 13 presentencing hearing.
