Guilty priest, Edward Avery, now focus of child abuse trial

Edward Avery admitted that he sexually assaulted an altar boy.

By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Prosecutors and defense lawyers at the conspiracy and child-sex abuse trial of two Philadelphia priests battled Monday over whether and what jurors can be told about a third defendant who was accused of assaulting multiple boys and pleaded guilty days before the trial began.

That defendant, defrocked priest Edward Avery, was sentenced to 2 ½ to five years in prison after admitting that he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy in the late 1990s.

Avery also pleaded guilty to conspiring with Msgr. William J. Lynn, the former Archdiocese of Philadelphia official on trial for allegedly endangering children by allowing Avery and another priest, the Rev. James J. Brennan, to live at parishes despite signs they might abuse minors.

The jurors have been told that Avery is no longer a defendant at the trial, but they have not been told why. His guilty plea did not require him to cooperate with investigators or testify at the trial.

Prosecutors said Monday they expect to call to the witness stand this week the former altar boy who Avery admitted molesting at St. Jerome’s Church in Northeast Philadelphia. That boy was abused six years after Lynn recommended Avery be removed from another parish because of an abuse complaint.

Assistant District Attorney Patrick Blessington said that if Lynn’s lawyers try to challenge the accuser’s credibility, prosecutors should be able to note that Avery pleaded guilty to the allegation. He also wants jurors to hear from five other men who have come forward in the past two years to say they, too, were abused as boys by Avery.

“Lynn put a powder keg out there,” Blessington told Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina. “If he would have looked, he might have found (Avery’s) victims. The fact that he didn’t was instructive in itself.”

Lynn’s lawyers argued that telling the jurors about Avery’s plea and other victims — particularly ones who came forward eight years after Lynn left his office — was patently unfair to their client.

“What the jury needs to know is about Monsignor Lynn’s state of mind,” attorney Jeffrey Lindy told the judge. “Things that he could not have known about could not possibly go to his state of mind.”

Sarmina reserved ruling on the issue, and said she might have a hearing Tuesday to hear more evidence about the newer victims.

“Sometimes, it just takes people a very long time before they can actually go public with this,” the judge said. “It takes a lot of courage ... I would not be surprised if there are not many, many more people out there who have chosen never to come forward.”

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That defendant, defrocked priest Edward Avery, was sentenced to 2 ½ to five years in prison after admitting that he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy in the late 1990s.

He should have served more time

You steal the life of a child in ways that they never can get over and you only get 2 1/2 to 5 years of prison time. It becomes clearer and clearer that there must be pedophiles sentencing these perverts...otherwise they would be in jail a lot longer. It disgusts me.

lindamarie wrote:

That defendant, defrocked priest Edward Avery, was sentenced to 2 ½ to five years in prison after admitting that he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy in the late 1990s.

He should have served more time

This has been ongoing since I can remember. As a "recovering Catholic" having attended Catholic school and being forced by my mother to go to Catholic school and hating every second of it, I knew this was going on when I was a mere 7 or 8 years old as my friends would confide in me, but I was little and didn't really comprehend it.

It is NOT "normal" for a human being to be abstinent. This is a Catholic "rule" which has caused this. I believe that SOME priests are actually pervs in sheeps clothing.

Now, I do want to state that I do not in any way put down anyone who is Catholic. We all have our own beliefs and I nor anyone has a right to demean anyone who chooses to be Catholic. It just wasn't for me. Period. However, this is not to say that the actual priests, like other "religions" have perverts acting as religious leaders.

As I am also a 'reformed Catholic'...