Jurors say they're hung up in sex-abuse trial against Catholic priests

Jurors told a Philadelphia judge Wednesday that they are hung on all but one count in the landmark sex-abuse trial against Roman Catholic priests.

NBC10's Terry Ruggles has just told us that the judge will tell jurors to go back in and continue deliberating.

After 12 days of deliberation the jury of seven men and five women -- many with ties to Catholic schools or parishes -- returned this morning saying they were deadlocked on four of the five counts. We don't know which count jurors have been able to reach a verdict on.


See the original report at Philadelphia's NBC10.com

Monsignor William Lynn is charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of conspiracy. Reverend James Brennan is charged with attempted rape and endangering the welfare of a child.

Msgr. Lynn is the first Roman Catholic Church official in the United States tried over accusations of protecting predator priests.

Lynn could face about 10 to 20 years in prison if found guilty.

Rev. Brennan, is accused of molesting a teen in 1996. His lawyer called the accuser, who has a lengthy criminal record, a con man seeking a payout.

Brennan, 49, did not testify, while Lynn spent three days on the witness stand saying that he did what he could to stop molestation by clergy but that he was only doing his job when he reassigned suspected clergy.

On cross-examination, Lynn acknowledged that he had not helped the 10-year-old altar boy raped by the Rev. Edward Avery in 1999, seven years after Lynn met with another Avery accuser.

“And I'm sorry about that,” Lynn said.

Avery is in prison after admitting the crime.

After closing arguments, jurors quickly asked for a half-dozen exhibits, including a gray folder found in a locked safe at the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The folder contains a list of 35 suspected predator-priests -- and was compiled by Lynn in 1994. At least one priest on the list was a parish pastor until this year.

Lynn, the former secretary for clergy, testified that he created the list from secret church files containing hundreds of child sex-abuse complaints. He said he hoped Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and other superiors would address the growing crisis.

It's unclear who put the surviving copy of Lynn's list in the safe. Lynn denied doing so, or owning the safe. The gray file was found when the safe was smashed open in 2006, two years after Lynn left his archdiocese job. An in-house lawyer said he put the gray folder in his files in 2006 without realizing the list -- sought by a grand jury in 2004 -- was inside.

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A new team of outside lawyers for the archdiocese turned it over to prosecutors in early February, days after Bevilacqua died. Lynn's trial started March 26.

The jury heard from more than a dozen alleged victims, including a nun, a former priest and a series of troubled adults.

Lynn said he did more than his colleagues to help victims and advance the church's response to both accusers and the accused priests, who were often sent for evaluation or treatment before transfers to new, unsuspecting parishes. Lynn said that only Bevilacqua had the power to remove priests from ministry.

But prosecutors say Lynn could have quit or called police. Instead, he stayed in the job for 12 years -- and acknowledged he never once contacted authorities.

As deliberations continued the questions of jurors became fewer until they finally came back to the judge Wednesday saying a unanimous decision on all counts couldn't be reached.

This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.

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Discuss this post

Must be a black, no a white, no, it's the delusional holding out against conviction.

    Reply#1 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:23 PM EDT

    Seems not appropriate that a sex abuse trial would have a hung jury.

    • 2 votes
    #1.1 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 4:10 PM EDT
    Reply

    "Jurors say they're hung up in sex-abuse trial against Catholic priests"...this is just too amazing to me..I guess the catholic priets can do no wrong...no matter to whom it might be. They have it seems no problem with protecting child molestors but big problems with women's insurnaces...How does one respect this kind of misuse of authorioty used by a church of any kind ? This guy Lynn did the same thing the pope has done..cover up the assult on children..yet..people still believe in the catholic church...still respect the pope...why?

    • 6 votes
    Reply#2 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:29 PM EDT

    Juors should ask themselves what would they do if this was not a religious orginazation leader being tried for witholding information about child sex abuse.

    • 8 votes
    Reply#3 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:29 PM EDT

    Maybe they did.

      #3.1 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 4:10 PM EDT
      Reply

      After 12 days of deliberation the jury of seven men and five women -- many with ties to Catholic schools or parishes

      Wouldn't this be a conflict of interest? I mean, it would certainly make them biased. I have no doubt their religious ties are what is clouding their judgment, because it's a no-brainer. Pedophilia is pedophilia, and this man abetted the criminal while ignoring the victims. Period.

      • 3 votes
      Reply#4 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:35 PM EDT

      Total no brainer

      • 1 vote
      #4.1 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:37 PM EDT
      Reply

      If a bank employee was suspected of robbing a bank you can bet that person would never work in a bank again. The bank that was robbed would see to that. But the church just moves the priests and serves them up a whole new group of unaware and innocent victims. As bad as the priest are for committing the crime are those that cover it up and move the suspected offender are the true scum.

      • 4 votes
      Reply#5 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:41 PM EDT

      Shame on them !

      • 1 vote
      Reply#6 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:47 PM EDT

      Looking at what people are sending to Congress and various statehouse, maybe Americans have become just too stupid to act as jurors and judges need to make the decision, as they do in some other countries.

      • 2 votes
      Reply#7 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 3:47 PM EDT

      "...many with ties to Catholic schools or parishes..." They are GUILTY!

        Reply#8 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 3:53 PM EDT

        Clearly, the rapes and molestations were God's will, so who can take issue with that?

        • 4 votes
        Reply#9 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 3:59 PM EDT

        Wonder how many of those juror's were catholic themselves?

          Reply#10 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 4:52 PM EDT

          It takes 12 and there is often 1. Few lay people recognize the tremendous burden of proof required of the prosecution in our system. It is not surprising more high profile defendants don't prevail. Wait for the Sandusky verdict. Many Penn State supporters in "Happy Valley".

            Reply#11 - Wed Jun 20, 2012 6:49 PM EDT

            All religion is mind control for the weak(spirituality not included), there's got to be something in that big book they hide so well behind about not doing the exact kind of sh1t they continue to do. the pope can get all pissed off the the US nuns for being more focused on helping people instead of spreading their ancient brain washing hate against the gay/les Americans,(or gay/les in general) and in the same breath hide and protect the most vile of tanters. The Destroyers held in the highest and holiest of trusts.

            See the hypocrisy inherent in the system! See the hypocrisy inherent in the system !

              Reply#12 - Thu Jun 21, 2012 8:15 PM EDT

              LGBT is a scourge independant of religion

                #12.1 - Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:18 PM EDT
                Reply

                I always felt they should have a star chamber for priests-they get off on a technicality-the secret priests off them. As far as religion goes,it sure is great to spout in the modern world.You forget thousands of years of history.I've read-no source,seems in science news one time,basically there may be a gene essentially for religion,or a least that type of thinking.Look at the world,look at history,look at people.You think religion is going to go away? More likely to happen that an individual goes away.If you don't like the world with religion,move elsewhere.I suspect most of patagonia or the ross ice shelf is devoid of religion,otherwise shut it

                  Reply#13 - Fri Jun 22, 2012 12:17 PM EDT
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