Monsignor become first to get jail sentence for enabling rapist clerics

[No Elephants]

Priest gets 3-6 years in sex abuse case

Published: July 24, 2012 at 5:11 PM

PHILADELPHIA, July 24 (UPI) -- A Catholic cleric found to have endangered children by failing to turn in priests who preyed on them was sentenced to prison Tuesday in Philadelphia.

In giving Monsignor William J. Lynn a three- to six-year state prison term, Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said Lynn was in a position to prevent "monsters in clerical garb" from sexually abusing children but looked the other way, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

"You knew full well what was right, monsignor, but you chose wrong," Sarmina said.

Lynn, the first Catholic Church official accused of enabling child-sex abuse, had faced a maximum of seven years in prison, which prosecutors had requested. The priest's attorneys had asked for probation or a county jail term. He must serve at least three years behind bars before becoming eligible for probation, the Inquirer said.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/07/24/Priest-gets-3-6-years-in-sex-abuse-case/UPI-53981343116800/#ixzz21bzCZ7Jv


Same week as Penn State's football program got sanctioned for the same thing, though, in that instance, I think innocent players got punished, too.

ETA: And the government was not involved (yet) in punishing Penn State.

[Leopolds Ghost]

1. Good... you can tell they're under pressure from the Penn case.

Why would the Catholic church throw away its moral high ground (that it worked so hard to seek under Vatican II by apologizing for past abuses of authority) by choosing to protect abusive priests, who were sullying the reputation of the priesthood?

If the priests had been progressive priests like in Latin America, or the American nuns, they would have been quickly sacked. Think about that for a minute. :-(

Are large institutions in general just so afraid of being "liable" for sex abusers that they choose to try and hide them away instead?

[No Elephants]

2. Well, now it's becoming obvious that they risk liability for cover ups while the perp continues to

rape.

I wish they had prosecuted Cardinal Law, instead of allowing the Pope to promote him to the Vatican.