Reuters: U.S.: Jury, reporting deadlock, resumes deliberations in Philadelphia church sex abuse trial

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Jury, reporting deadlock, resumes deliberations in Philadelphia church sex abuse trial Jun 20th 2012, 16:57 By Dave Warner PHILADELPHIA | Wed Jun 20, 2012 12:24pm EDT PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The jury in the child sex abuse case of Philadelphia Monsignor William Lynn said on Wednesday it was deadlocked on most of the charges filed against the highest-ranking U.S. clergyman to stand trial in the Roman Catholic church's pedophilia scandal. The jury, in its 12th day of deliberations, sent a note to Judge M. Teresa Sarmina reading: "We the jury are at a hung jury status on all charges except for one." "Please advise us as to our next step," it said. The judge, who read the note aloud in the courtroom, conferred with prosecutors and defense attorneys as to the next step. Lynn, 61, is accused of conspiracy and child endangerment. Prosecutors say in his job overseeing hundreds of priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, he covered up child sex abuse allegations, often by transferring priests named in the claims to unsuspecting parishes. Also on trial is the Reverend James Brennan, accused of child endangerment and attempted rape of a 14-year-old in 1996. The jury heard 10 weeks of testimony and began deliberating on June 1. If convicted, Lynn faces the possibility of 21 years in prison. Prosecutors say his motive was to avoid scandal and any potential loss of donations to the archdiocese, the nation's sixth largest with 1.5 million members. Lynn supervised 800 priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, and was responsible for investigating claims of sexual abuse, between 1992 to 2004. The defense said Lynn tried to handle documented cases of pedophile priests, making a list in 1994 of 35 accused predators and writing memos to suggest treatment and suspensions. It said Lynn was hampered because he could make only recommendations to the head of the archdiocese, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who died in January at age 88. (Editing By Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Will Dunham and Jackie Frank) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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