D.A. Wants New Court Hearing on Lynn Case

In this Jan. 6, 2014 file photo, Monsignor William Lynn walks from the criminal justice center in Philadelphia. The landmark conviction of the Roman Catholic church official imprisoned over his handling of abuse complaints in Philadelphia has been overturned for the second time. A Superior Court ruling, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2015 awarded Lynn a new trial.

District Attorney Seth Williams said Monday he will ask the Pennsylvania Superior Court to re-hear arguments in the case of Monsignor William Lynn, the highest-ranking Catholic Church official to be convicted in the church’s sex abuse scandal.

Last week, a 2-1 panel of the court ordered Lynn to receive a new trial in the case, saying that evidence from the church’s “Secret Archive” — material that included evidence of acts that took place decades before Lynn became secretary of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia — unfairly tainted his original trial. He was convicted of endangering the welfare of children.

Williams will ask the entire superior court — not just a three-person panel — to hear the appeal.

“We will fight to keep Monsignor Lynn in state custody where he belongs,” Williams said Monday in a released statement. 

Lynn has served about two years of a three- to six-year sentence at a state correctional facility outside Scranton.