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Ex-church official seeks freedom after conviction tossed
Original Publication Date: August 1, 2016 2:47PM
Publication Updated: April 27, 2025 10:39PM
PHILADELPHIA – A former Philadelphia church official imprisoned over his handling of abuse complaints is seeking bail after Pennsylvania’s highest court granted him a new trial.
Monsignor William Lynn is the first person ever charged and convicted of helping the Roman Catholic Church shield child molesters within its ranks.
Appeals courts have wrestled ever since with the legality of his conviction.
Lynn has been in and out of prison as the courts have twice thrown out his conviction. He’s served nearly three years of a three- to six-year sentence, and is due to be paroled in October.
Defence lawyer Thomas Bergstrom plans to ask a judge on Tuesday to release the 65-year-old Lynn.
Prosecutors have not said whether they hope to retry the longtime secretary for clergy.
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