Govt: Admitted Predator Kept In Philly Archdiocese

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jurors in the Philadelphia clergy-abuse trial are hearing about one of the most notorious priests named in a 2005 grand jury report.

Church documents say the priest admitted in the 1970s that he had sexually assaulted three eighth-grade boys in one year alone. He remained in ministry through 1980, and taught Latin at a Main Line Philadelphia public school in 2004.

Monsignor William Lynn is charged with child endangerment for allegedly keeping him and other accused predators in ministry.

Defense lawyers say Lynn, the secretary for clergy, took orders from the archbishop.

Letters show Lynn felt the man should not return to ministry in the 1990s, because of the risk to the archdiocese.

But prosecutors say there’s no mention of the potential harm to children or need to contact police.