Jury reaches verdict in Pa. priest-abuse trial (UPDATED: Guilty)

[rug]

Last edited Fri Jun 22, 2012, 02:31 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: The Associated Press

By MARYCLAIRE DALE
The Associated Press
Updated: 12:26 p.m. Friday, June 22, 2012
Published: 12:24 p.m. Friday, June 22, 2012

PHILADELPHIA — A jury reached a verdict in a groundbreaking priest-abuse trial and was poised to announce it Friday afternoon.

Monsignor William Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged for allegedly helping an archdiocese cover up abuse claims. He faces about 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment.

Lynn is on leave from the Philadelphia archdiocese, where he served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004.

Defense lawyers said Lynn alone tried to document abuse complaints, get priests into treatment and alert the cardinal to the growing crisis. Church documents show therapists had called one accused priest a ticking "time bomb" and "powder keg."

http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/jury-reaches-verdict-in-pa-priest-abuse-trial-2402624.html

Read more: http://www.statesman.com/news/nation/jury-reaches-verdict-in-pa-priest-abuse-trial-2402624.html

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Stay tuned.

The verdict of the Petit Jury:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/22/us-usa-crime-church-idUSBRE85L13820120622

The Report of the Grand Jury:

http://www.phila.gov/districtattorney/PDFs/clergyAbuse2-finalReport.pdf

[Bolo Boffin]

1. Up to seven years.

A lot more lenient than the sentence Lynn's boss recommended.