CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST PHILADELPHIA PRIEST PERSONNEL DIRECTOR GOES TO THE JURY

CRIMINAL CASE AGAINST PHILADELPHIA PRIEST PERSONNEL DIRECTOR GOES TO THE JURY

As reported by the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday, final arguments were presented on Thursday to the jury in the criminal trial of William J. Lynn, the priest personnel director in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia for many years.

The Roman Catholic church seems to have a worldwide play-book to defend itself, its child abuser priests and their bosses whenever they face criminal or civil charges.

After this eleven week trial, as reported, defense arguments to try to save this priest from conviction for the crime of child endangerment or conspiracy included the following.

Lynn felt the pain of survivors of childhood sexual abuse, but he did not cause it and he should not pay for transferring abuser priests from assignment to assignment despite knowledge of their danger to children.

If Lynn had the power or the authority to stop childhood sexual abuse by fellow priests he would have done so.  But only the Cardinal in Philadelphia could have saved children, not him.

In reply, the prosecutor is reported to have told the jury that – “He’s spitting on you and telling you it’s raining.  He’s insulting your intelligence.  Don’t let him get away with it.”

The lawyer for priest William J. Brennan, also on trial, is reported to have accused the survivor victim of this alleged child abuser of being “dead broke,” and “desperate people do desperate things,” meaning it is all a pack of lies.  This echos accusations made in the two month civil trial of John Vai here in Delaware in 2010 where John was accused of being a liar who was making false claims with unscrupulous lawyers, out for a fast buck.

Those claims from the play-book fell on deaf ears for a Delaware jury and John was awarded $3,000,001 in compensatory and punitive damages against St. Elizabeth’s church here in Delaware.

Hopefully this Philadelphia jury will see through the smokescreen the church has thrown up and will hold these defendants criminally liable for their actions.

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