ALM Properties, Inc.
Page printed from: The Legal Intelligencer
Select 'Print' in your browser menu to print this document.
Priest Abuse Scandal and TrialThis collection of articles from The Legal Intelligencer offers an in-depth look at the ongoing priest sex abuse scandal and trial involving the Philadelphia Archdiocese.Priest Abuse Complaints Allege Concealment By Stradley Ronon While the law firm Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young is not a named defendant in eight civil lawsuits in which plaintiffs allege sexual abuse by Catholic priests, some of the complaints claim that the law firm assisted the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in efforts to conceal sexual misconduct by its clergy. Full Text New Judge to Preside Over Priest Abuse Trial While a new judge will be presiding over the trial of the co-defendants in the Philadelphia priest sexual-abuse trial, observers of the criminal justice system expect that she will handle the case well. Full Text The Statute of Limitations: Justice for All For more than 16 months, Pennsylvania legislators have been pushing for a law that would provide victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to file civil suits or criminal complaints against their alleged abusers. The proposal would actually eliminate the statute of limitations for criminal prosecutions and extend the statute of limitations for civil lawsuits an additional 20 years. Full Text Lynn Denied Release While Appeal of Conviction Pending Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina denied Monsignor William J. Lynn's release on bail during the appeal of his conviction of endangering a 10-year-old boy sexually abused by a priest who Lynn recommended to live in the boy's parish. Full Text Lynn Sentenced to Three to Six Years in State Prison Monsignor William J. Lynn, the first Catholic Church official in the country to be charged with harming sexual-abuse victims whose abuse he was responsible for investigating, was sentenced Tuesday to three to six years in state prison. Full Text DA Decides to Retry Lynn's Co-Defendant The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has decided to retry James J. Brennan, the former priest who was tried along with Monsignor William J. Lynn in the nation’s first trial of a Catholic Church official on allegations of not using his authority to keep children from harm from sexual abuse by priests. Full Text Pre-Sentencing House Arrest For Lynn Denied by Judge Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina denied a request to release Monsignor William J. Lynn on house arrest while he awaits sentencing. Full Text For Now, Judge Holds Off on Lynn's Request for House Arrest In the wake of Monsignor William J. Lynn's conviction Friday of endangering the welfare of a child and Lynn's bail being revoked, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said during a hearing Tuesday that she would consider releasing Lynn on house arrest if Lynn would waive his right to fight extradition and if it could be established that the Vatican would honor such a waiver. Full Text Lynn Found Guilty on One Count; DA Mulls Brennan Retrial Philadelphia's top prosecutor said that a jury's verdict Friday on one of four charges brought against the first Catholic Church official to be criminally prosecuted for placing children in proximity with sexually abusive priests when he did not directly abuse the children would change how religious and secular institutions deal with sexual abuse. Full Text Deadlocked Jury Told to Keep Working in Priest Abuse Trial After 11 days of deliberation, more than 1,900 exhibits and more than two months of testimony, the jury in the Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial reported late Wednesday morning that they have reached unanimity on one charge but that they have not been able to agree on four other charges. Full Text On Day 8 of Deliberations, Priest Sex-Abuse Trial Jurors Ask About Intent, Conspiracy As jurors in the Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial ended their eighth day of deliberations, they asked the trial judge that if endangering the welfare of a child was the result of criminal conspiracy, does that crime have to have been the intent of participants in the conspiracy. Full Text Sharp Exchange Between Lawyers Marks Day Seven of Priest Abuse Trial Deliberations At the end of the seventh day of jury deliberations in the Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial, the jury asked for an alleged sex-abuse victim’s two-day testimony to be read back to them, as well as the alleged victim’s mother’s testimony and the interview done by a church investigator with the priest who allegedly abused M.B. The Legal is not naming alleged victims. Full Text Day 7: Attorneys Argue Over Giving Church Trial Testimony to Jury When the jury deliberating for the seventh day on the Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial asked for the canonical trial testimony of alleged victim M.B., defense attorney William Brennan said the testimony should not be given nor read to the jury.Full Text More Questions, No Verdict in Phila. Priest Sex-Abuse Trial As jurors in the Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial undertook a half-day of deliberations, they asked three questions. Full Text Jury Deliberations Continue in Priest Sex-Abuse Case On the third day of deliberations in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest sex-abuse case, the jury asked a series of questions before asking to break for the day around 3:20 p.m. Full Text Deliberations Continue in Priest Abuse Case The jury in the Philadelphia priest sex-abuse case requested at least eight documents, but one — in which a Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia investigator interviewed a defendant for the church's internal sexual-abuse investigation — was withheld. Full Text Lawyers Make Closing Arguments In Landmark Priest Sex-Abuse Trial With the Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial expected to go the jury today, a prosecutor argued that a Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia official lied to an investigating grand jury that he couldn't find a list he'd developed out of the church's secret archives of priests accused of sexual abuse and other sexual misconduct. Full Text Defense Rests in Phila. Priest Sex-Abuse Trial After both defendants in the Philadelphia priest sex-abuse case rested Tuesday, the case is poised to go to jury later this week. Full Text Lynn Testifies He Would Do 'Anything' to Control Priests As a Catholic Church official was interrogated by a prosecutor about at least 15 priests accused of sexual abuse whose assignments he handled, the defendant said that he would take any tack that he could to get the clerics to stay in line. Full Text Lynn Takes Stand In His Own Defense The Catholic Church official charged with endangering two men who testified they were sexually abused by two priests as youths said in his defense Wednesday that he was motivated to go through the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's secret archives of troubled priests after looking at a file of a priest accused of indecent conduct and seeing that the priest had prior, similar misconduct. Full Text
Co-Defendants Acquitted Of 1 Conspiracy Charge In Priest Sex-Abuse Case The judge presiding over the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial acquitted the cleric in charge of reviewing allegations of sexual abuse or other misconduct by priests with minors of conspiring to endanger the welfare of a 30-year-old man who says a priest attempted to rape him. Full Text
Pa. Bishops Formed Committee to Shield Secret Archives From Discovery As the last prosecution witness in the Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial took the stand Wednesday, the jury was told about an Archdiocese of Philadelphia document turned over to prosecutors that documented that the late Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua and other Pennsylvania bishops formed an ad hoc committee to "better protect … from civil law discovery" secret-archive files of priests who had a history of problems, including of allegations of sexually abusing minors. Full Text
Lawyers Spar Over 'Duty' Explanation in Abuse Case When, and if, the jurors in the Philadelphia priest sex-abuse case receive the judge's charge, prosecutors want them to hear an explanation of what it means to have a duty of care to not endanger the welfare of children, while the defense does not want any such explanation. Full Text Lawyers Argue Over Deposition of Priest's Alleged Supervisors Defense attorneys for the Catholic Church official on trial in Philadelphia are objecting to a prosecution motion to take the depositions of nuns who lived at the same monastery with a priest who two witnesses have testified raped them for several years when they were young teenagers. Full Text Defense Attorney Questions Canonical Trial Procedures A defense attorney for accused priest James J. Brennan spent much of his cross-examination Monday of a canonical judge questioning the process used to try priests under church law as well as the era of quick judgment within the Roman Catholic Church after its bishops adopted in 2002 new guidelines for dealing with criminal behavior by priests. Full Text AWOL Alleged Abuser Wasn't a Big Deal, Lynn Told '02 Grand Jury When defrocked priest Stanley Gana went absent without leave from a Catholic therapy facility in Toronto after being accused of sexually abusing two teenagers, Monsignor William J. Lynn told a grand jury in 2002 that "it wasn't that big of a deal at that time. Full Text Abuse Case Witness Testifies He Was Not Warned About Priest The Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia's delegate for investigating sexually abusive priests was told in 1992 that defrocked priest Edward V. Avery had touched a man's genitals when the man was 15 years old and again when he was 18 as he slept in the same bed as Avery. Full Text Introduction of Avery's Guilty Plea Still Unresolved Defense attorneys for the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia official accused of endangering the welfare of a man set to testify today that he was abused by a defrocked priest will have to take their chances that prosecutors might be able to tell the jury about the ex-cleric's guilty plea. Full Text Sarmina Mulls Hearing Additional Accusers in Priest Sex-Abuse Case A Philadelphia judge presiding over the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest sex-abuse trial must decide if the reports from five people in 2010 that they were abused sexually by defrocked priest Edward Avery can be admitted into evidence in order to bolster the prosecution's case. Full Text Second Witness Testifies He Reported Alleged Abuse to Lynn Another witness in the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest sex-abuse case testified he told a defendant in charge of investigating sexual abuse by priests that he was abused by defrocked priest Stanley Gana. Full Text Former Priest Testifies He Reported Abuse to Lynn An ex-priest said Monday that he left the priesthood because one of his colleagues, who he claims abused him for four years, was not removed from ministry by church officials. Full Text Prosecution Expert Testifies Church Law Requires Reporting Sex Abuse A prosecution expert who is a priest and has a doctorate in Roman Catholic canonical law testified Thursday in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest sex-abuse case that there is nothing in church law that prevents church officials from reporting the abuse to secular law enforcement authorities. Full Text
Lynn Sought to Avoid 'Scandal' Over Priest's Attraction to Porn, Documents Say Philadelphia prosecutors obtained thousands of documents from the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s secret archives about problematic priests for the trial of the archdiocese’s former secretary of clergy in charge of investigating and monitoring priests who had allegedly sexually abused children or committed other sexual improprieties. Full Text Lynn Questioned Admitted Abuser About Possible 'Seduction' by Student, Document Shows When a defendant in the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia priest sex-abuse case met with a priest accused of abusing a grade-school student, the defendant asked if it was possible that the priest had been seduced by the student, according to a document read into the record by a Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office detective today. Full Text Defense Grills Alleged Victim in Priest Abuse Case As a 30-year-old man underwent intense cross-examination in the criminal case in which he has accused a priest of molesting him as a 14-year-old, he gave a short bark of laughter. Full Text Graphic Abuse Testimony Starts in Priest Sex-Abuse Case A 30-year-old man who says a priest abused him as a teenager underwent aggressive cross-examination on Wednesday, including on the fact that he has a criminal history that includes a conviction of making a false report to the police, identity theft and forgery. Full Text Direct Testimony Begins in Priest Sex-Abuse Case When J.D. went to Mass with his friends in the suburbs, he allegedly saw the priest who used to massage his shoulders, rub his back under his shirt and grab his buttocks doing the same things 20 years later to altar boys. Full Text
As the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia case opened Monday with two defendants remaining on trial, prosecutors argued that the archdiocesan official formerly in charge of investigating complaints of abuse by priests could not fulfill his duties of protecting children, protecting the privacy of priests and protecting the church all at the same time. Full Text
Judge Sides With Archdiocese On Privilege Issue in Abuse Case The judge presiding over the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex-abuse case ruled Friday that the archdiocese has its own attorney-client privilege regarding 12 communications between outside counsel hired by the archdiocese and the former secretary for clergy charged with endangering the welfare of children allegedly abused by priests he supervised. Full Text
Former Phila. Priest Pleads Guilty to Sex-Abuse Charge The landscape of the trial of a Catholic Church official accused of endangering children by exposing them to allegedly abusive priests changed Thursday after one of the official's co-defendants admitted in court to sexually abusing a 10-year-old. Full Text Judge Rules on Cross-Examination's Scope in Archdiocese Sex-Abuse Case An attorney for a former priest accused of sexually abusing a youth can cross-examine the priest's accuser on whether he was motivated to make up abuse allegations because he was expelled in the ninth grade from his archdiocesan high school, the judge in the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex-abuse case ruled Wednesday. Full Text
Justices Greenlight Priest Abuse Case With jury selection slated to start this week in the case of a Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia church official charged with endangering youths allegedly abused by priests, the state Supreme Court entered an order Friday rejecting the official's King's Bench petition. Full Text Phila. Archdiocese GC on Leave, Conrad O'Brien Attorney Set to Take Interim Role The decision by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to place its general counsel on administrative leave appears to be the latest move in an effort by the new archbishop to bring in new outside and in-house legal counsel. Full Text Lynn Makes Sixth Amendment Argument Against Church Privilege The lawyers for a Catholic church official charged with endangering the welfare of children allegedly abused by priests he supervised are arguing that their client's Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel would be violated if the Archdiocese of Philadelphia is able to assert an independent attorney-client privilege. Full Text
Priest Abuse Case Judge Won't Recuse Over Remark The Philadelphia judge presiding over the Philadelphia criminal case in which a Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia church official is charged with endangering youths allegedly abused by priests declined to recuse herself from the case after she remarked during an earlier proceeding, according to defense lawyers in the case, that someone would have to be living on another planet to not think there is widespread child sex abuse in the church. Full Text
Archdiocese Asserts Privilege Against Lynn's Subpoena in Priest Sex-Abuse Case The Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia said in a motion filed Tuesday that it will not waive its own attorney-client privilege regarding 12 documents that Monsignor William J. Lynn wants to subpoena in the criminal case against him. Full Text
Prosecutors Seek Expert Testimony on Sex-Abuse 'Grooming' In an apparent case of first impression, prosecutors in the pending Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex-abuse case want to present expert testimony on the process sexual abusers of children undertake to "'groom'" their victims. Full Text
Judge Rejects Attempt to Dismiss Charges in Priest Sex-Abuse Case As the second week of jury selection continues in the Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia sex-abuse case, the presiding judge has denied the latest defense motion to dismiss charges of endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy against the archdiocese's former secretary of clergy. Full Text |