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Monsignor William Lynn convicted of cover up of sexual child abuse

Good News: Monsignor William Lynn, First Catholic Official Convicted in Cover Up of Sexual Abuse of Children

Good News: Monsignor William J. Lynn is the first U.S. Catholic official who has been convicted for covering up the sexual abuse of children. He was sentenced to 3-6 years in prison on Tuesday, July 24.

Lynn, 61, has been in a jail since his June 22 conviction on endangering the welfare of a child. Monsignor Lynn escaped what prosecutors were seeking, which was the maximum penalty of up to seven years.

“You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong,” said Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina.

Sarmina told Lynn that he enabled “monsters in clerical garb … to destroy the souls of children, to whom you turned a hard heart.”

The Washington Post reported:

Lynn was head of priest personnel for a dozen years and was one of the highest-ranking officials in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Lynn was the first church official to be tried for what many see as an unaddressed crime in the decades-long tally of abuse throughout the church:

Read more at Church Scandal Report