Hearing delayed for church leaders charged in sexual abuse

The prelate charged with child endangerment in the alleged shielding of sexually abusive priests in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia will not be in court this week as scheduled.

An initial hearing for Msgr. William Lynn, indicted on two felony counts as a result of last month's grand jury report, has been postponed until March 14, attorneys in the case said Tuesday.

Hearings on rape and sodomy charges against two priests, one defrocked priest, and a parochial schoolteacher whom Lynn is accused of enabling also will be delayed and heard on that date.

Common Pleas Court Judge Renee Cardwell Hughes agreed to reschedule the hearings after several of the attorneys said they could not be in court Thursday.

On Tuesday, the District Attorney's Office asked Hughes to allow it to bypass the preliminary hearing, at which prosecutors must convince the judge that there is enough evidence to hold a case for trial. The prosecutors said the grand jury presentment outlining the charges against the five men was sufficient.

Assistant District Attorneys Evangelia Manos and Mariana Sorensen said skipping the hearing also would spare the two victims - altar boys at St. Jerome Parish when they allegedly were assaulted in the 1990s - the trauma of testifying yet again, having already appeared before the grand jury.

Defense attorneys said Tuesday that they would oppose efforts to skip the hearing, arguing that their clients have a right to confront their accusers and test their credibility in court.

In cases involving a grand jury, "the law says you're entitled to a preliminary hearing," said Thomas Bergstrom, one of Lynn's attorneys.

Lynn, 60, has denied any wrongdoing and said he would plead not guilty. Free on bail, he is on administrative leave from St. Joseph Parish in Downingtown, where he had been pastor.

The Rev. Charles Engelhardt also is expected to plead not guilty, said his attorney, Michael McGovern. Engelhardt, 64, is free on bail.

McGovern noted that Engelhardt had waived his Fifth Amendment privilege and testified before the grand jury. He said the priest looked forward to a trial and was confident that he would be acquitted.

Efforts to reach attorneys for the Rev. James Brennan and Edward Avery, who was laicized in 2006, were unsuccessful Tuesday.

An attorney for Bernard Shero, the teacher, declined to comment. Shero, 48, who no longer works at St. Jerome's, is free on bail.