Church Official’s Lawyer: Seth Williams “Unprofessional”

The lawyer for Monsignor William J. Lynn, the former Archdiocese of Philadelphia official currently free on bail after his landmark 2012 conviction on child endangerment charges was overturned last week, has blasted D.A. Seth Williams for criticizing the appeals court’s ruling.

Thomas Bergstrom says he will send letters to the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the disciplinary board of the state Supreme Court after Williams called the ruling “disappointing and puzzling” on Monday and termed the archdiocese’s decision to put up Lynn’s bail “disgusting.”

“I think Williams is way out of line. He’s a lawyer, he’s a public servant, an officer of the court. He is denigrating the court and denigrating the Archdiocese for assisting in the posting of bail for what is — at the moment — an innocent man,” Bergstrom told the Daily News.

“The court has reversed his conviction and sentence. I don’t get what Williams is doing,” said Bergstrom, adding, “He should shut his mouth.”

Lynn is scheduled to appear in court again on Monday to hear the terms of his bail personally.

In response to Bergstrom’s criticism, Williams told the Daily News:

“Let’s get back to the real issue here. There is no dispute that William Lynn endangered countless children by exposing them to known abusers. Not even the defense disputes that, nor did the appeals court.

“The only dispute is that we believe that’s a crime and the criminal deserves to be punished.”

UPDATE: More on Lynn’s situation and Bergstrom’s criticism of Williams from Ralph Cipriano on BigTrial.net.