Jury reaches verdict in Pa. priest-abuse trial

Monsignor William Lynn walks to the Criminal Justice Center, Wednesday, June 20, 2012, in Philadelphia. Lynn is the first Roman Catholic church official in the U.S. ever charged with child endangerment, for allegedly keeping co-defendants former priest Edward V. Avery and the Rev. James J. Brennan, and other accused predators, in ministry. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Monsignor William Lynn walks to the Criminal Justice Center, Wednesday, June 20, 2012, in Philadelphia. Lynn is the first Roman Catholic church official in the U.S. ever charged with child endangerment, for allegedly keeping co-defendants former priest Edward V. Avery and the Rev. James J. Brennan, and other accused predators, in ministry. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? A jury reached a verdict in a groundbreaking priest-abuse trial and was poised to announce it Friday afternoon.

Monsignor William Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged for allegedly helping an archdiocese cover up abuse claims. He faces about 10 to 20 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy and two counts of child endangerment.

Lynn is on leave from the Philadelphia archdiocese, where he served as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004.

Defense lawyers said Lynn alone tried to document abuse complaints, get priests into treatment and alert the cardinal to the growing crisis. Church documents show therapists had called one accused priest a ticking "time bomb" and "powder keg."

Lynn testified that the cardinal was the ultimate authority on what happened to the priests.

Prosecutors argued that Lynn could have called police or quit the job if efforts to help victims were being stymied.

They said the evidence showed a pattern at the archdiocese of lying about why priests were removed, sending them to "company doctors" at church-run therapy centers and failing to warn new parishes where they were later transferred.

Friday was the 13th day of deliberations in the case.

Seven men and five women sat on the jury, along with eight alternates. Many have ties to Catholic schools or parishes, but said they could judge the case fairly. There are about 1.5 million Catholics in the five-county archdiocese.

Associated Press

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