Philly Catholic Pedophile Trial: Priest Joked About Molesting 3 Boys A Week

In an unprecedented case, Philadelphia Catholic Archdiocese Monsignor William Lynn is on trial for shielding pedophile priests. Yesterday jurors heard some of the most repulsive testimony yet.

In the day's most startling testimony, a detective read internal church memos about a priest who allegedly "joked about how hard it was to have sex with three boys in one week." His accuser also stated that the priest had a "rotation process" of boys spending time sleeping with him. Defense lawyers argue that Lynn tried to address the problem as secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004, but was blocked by the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and others in the Philadelphia archdiocese. The testimony Monday also included a 1992 complaint about a different priest who allegedly molested boys at a church-owned camp three decades earlier. Several junior counselors complained in the early 1960s that the priest was on the prowl at night, molesting them in their tents. They said it was a well-known secret among teen counselors for several years.

Last week Father Edward Avery, Lynn's co-defendant, abruptly changed his plea to guilty just as the trial was to begin. During his allocution, Avery confessed to molesting parish boys and admitted that his diocese knew about his assaults yet did nothing.