Monsinyori William J. Lynn, anakuw akiongozi wa kwanza kwa kanisa katoliki nchini Marekani kuhukumiwa kwenda jela miaka mitatu hadi si...
Monsinyori William J. Lynn, anakuw akiongozi wa kwanza kwa
kanisa katoliki nchini Marekani kuhukumiwa kwenda jela miaka mitatu hadi sita
kwa kosa la 'kufukia'makosa ya kidhalilishaji yaliyokuwa yakifanywa na mapadri
dhidi ya watoto.
Hukumu hiyo ilitolewa jana mjini Philadelphia.
“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you
chose wrong,” Judge M. Teresa Sarmina of Common Pleas Court said as she imposed
the sentence, which was just short of the maximum of three and a half to seven
years. Monsignor Lynn must serve at least three years before he is eligible for
parole.
Monsignor Lynn, 61, was found guilty on June 22 of child
endangerment 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. He was acquitted of conspiracy and a second child endangerment
charge.
Monsignor 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 parishes, and lied to the public to avoid bad publicity and lawsuits.
The conviction of a senior official, followed 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 at
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 sentencing, Monsignor 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.”
Turning toward relatives of an abuse victim in the courtroom,
he said, “I hope someday 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 Judge
Sarmina described it at the hearing.
The sentence was a victory for the Philadelphia district
attorney, R. Seth Williams, who said outside the courtroom, “Many people say
that the maximum still would not have been enough.”
Monsignor Lynn’s lawyer, Thomas Bergstrom, called the sentence
“unbalanced.” Last week, the defense argued that a long prison sentence would
be “merely cruel and unusual.”
Prosecutors argued that the gravity of Monsignor Lynn’s crime
— giving known sexual predators continued access to children, causing lifelong
anguish and damage to some — was “off the charts.”
Monsignor Lynn’s lawyers said they would appeal the
conviction, saying that the child endangerment law at the time did not apply to
supervisors and that the judge erred in allowing testimony about accusations
that were beyond the statute of limitations.
In a statement Tuesday, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said
that its procedures for protecting children had improved significantly since
“the events some 10 years ago that were at the center of this trial.”
It acknowledged “legitimate anger in the broad community
toward any incident or enabling of sexual abuse.” But it also described the
sentence as overly harsh, saying “fair-minded people will question the
severity.”
“We hope that when this punishment is objectively reviewed, it
will be adjusted,” it said.
After the sentencing, Ann Casey, a friend of Monsignor Lynn
for 36 years, said she believed he was a scapegoat and a victim of his intense
faith in the archdiocese’s leaders. “It was his vow of obedience to the church
that landed him this morning in jail,” she said.
During the trial, Monsignor Lynn’s lawyers argued that he had
followed the instructions of Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua, who was the
archbishop of Philadelphia from 1988 to 2003 and who died in January.
Monsignor Lynn’s conviction was for lax oversight of one
former priest, Edward V. Avery, who spent six months in a church psychiatric
center in 1993 after an abuse episode. Doctors said he should be kept away from
children. But Monsignor Lynn sent him to live in a rectory and did not warn
parish officials.
In 1999, Mr. Avery engaged in oral sex with a 10-year-old
altar boy. He pleaded guilty to the assault just before Monsignor Lynn’s trial
and was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison.
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