Philly priest gets 3 to 6 years in abuse case

the highest-ranking Catholic Church cleric charged and convicted in the landmark Philadelphia child sexual abuse trial was sentenced to 3 to 6 years in prison Tuesday.

Monsignor William Lynn, 61, was found guilty in June of one count of child endangerment, the first time a U.S. church leader has been convicted of such a charge.

He was given just under the maximum sentence he faced, which was 3½ to 7 years in prison for his conviction on the third-degree felony.

Lynn, who was allowed to make a statement, apologized for any shortcomings.

"I've tried to serve God as best I could," said Lynn, who was not wearing his clerical collar and was escorted by bailiffs to the courtroom. "My best was not good enough."

The trial marked the first time U.S. prosecutors have charged not just the priests who allegedly committed abuses, but also church leaders for failing to stop them. Lynn is the highest-ranking cleric accused of covering up allegations of molestation and rape against priests by transferring them to unwitting parishes.

"You knew full well what was right, but you chose wrong," Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina told Lynn during sentencing.

Although Lynn did not sexually abuse any children, he failed to take the "appropriate steps" to remove predator priests from ministry, the judge said. "He has been sentenced for his own actions done knowingly."

Lynn's conviction was for not removing defrocked priest, Edward Avery, from active ministry in the 1990s after learning Avery had molested a teen.

Accused priest: 'I was helping priests and helping victims as best I could'

Days before the trial in March, Avery pleaded guilty to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and conspiracy to endanger the welfare of a child after admitting that he sexually assaulted the 10-year-old altar boy during the 1998-99 school year. Avery, 69, was sentenced to 2½ to 5 years.

The victim, now in his 20s, was in the fifth grade when Avery undressed with him in a small storage room, told him that God loved him, and then engaged in sexual acts with him.

"He told me God loves me, this is what God wants, and it was time for me to become a man," the witness told jurors April.

The family of Avery's victim, who testified during the trial, sat packed into rows behind the prosecution.

"The young man has suffered tremendously. The life of their son has been ruined," said the victim's attorney and family spokesman, Slade McLaughlin. "They have a sense of relief that justice has been served,"

After Lynn's defense team argued for leniency from the judge, assistant district attorney Patrick Blessington asked for the maximum sentence of seven years in prison.

"It was horrible. It was despicable what he did over a 14-year-period," Blessington said. "He doesn't get mercy, he gets justice."

The judge's sentencing decision ended a nearly two-hour hearing that attracted Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams to the standing-room only courtroom.

"I believe this has sent a message. They (church officials) have to take allegations seriously," Williams said. "Victims have to come first."