5 defendants will be tried together

photo: Monsignor William Lynn, charged with transferring predator priests to new parishes, arrives for a hearing yesterday. A judge ruled that Lynn and four others in the city's Catholic Church sex scandal will be tried together

Philadelphia Daily News July 30, 2011
BY MENSAH M. DEAN
deanm@phillynews.com 215-854-5949

THE FIVE DEFENDANTS in the Philadelphia Catholic church sex scandal will be tried together, a judge ruled yesterday.
During the case's final pretrial hearing, Common Pleas Judge Lillian Ransom denied the defendants' requests for separate trials and most of their motions to dismiss conspiracy charges.

Ransom also denied a motion by the attorney for Monsignor William Lynn that would have allowed the state Superior Court to determine if the endangering-the-welfare-of-children statute applied to Lynn.

Thomas A. Bergstrom, Lynn's attorney, argued that it did not because Lynn's job had not required him to supervise children.

...........
Lynn, formerly the secretary for clergy for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, is accused of transferring predator priests to new parishes, which allowed them to sexually abuse altar boys. He is charged with endangering the welfare of a child and conspiracy.

He is the first U.S. Catholic Church official to be charged with such a crime.

.............

The charges against the defendants are the result of a Feb. 10 grand jury report that laid out the allegations in graphic detail and denounced Philadelphia church officials for how they handled sexual-abuse complaints.
Full story at Philadelphia Daily News