Sins of the Father

In 2009, Philly Mag chronicled the story of Father Charles Newman, the former head of Archbishop Ryan, the largest Catholic school in the city. Newman was sent to prison that May for stealing nearly $900,000 from his religious order and from the school, but many see his true crime as one that went unpunished — his alleged sexual abuse of a student, Arthur Baselice, and his manipulation of the Baselice family.

Despite claims from the archdiocese that it had taken steps to correct the problems outlined in the first grand jury investigation back in 2005, we pointed out that “Monsignor William Lynn, who is named hundreds of times in the [2005 grand jury] report for his flawed investigations of accused priests, now runs a parish in Downingtown.”

Now Lynn has been charged with two felony counts of endangering the welfare of children, and a second grand jury has confirmed what the Baselice family and victim¹s rights groups have long insisted‹sadly, the priest abuse crisis within the archdiocese is not a thing of the past.