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Prosecutors: Archdiocese Financially Motivated To Cover Up Sexual Abuse By Priests

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Edward Avery, Charles Engelhardt, James Brennan, Bernard Shero, and William Lynn are charged in connection with sex crimes against children in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

Edward Avery, Charles Engelhardt, James Brennan, Bernard Shero, and William Lynn are charged in connection with sex crimes against children in the Philadelphia Archdiocese.

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Reporting Tony Hanson

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By Tony Hanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – The prosecution presents evidence of decades of what it calls “prior bad acts” it hopes to present in the clergy abuse trial. Authorities say this shows a pattern of ignoring abuse and protecting ‘predator priests’ long before the crimes allegedly committed in this case. Authorities allege the motive was money.

READ: Judge Considers Allowing Evidence In Philadelphia Priest Child Sex Abuse Case
READ: CBS Philly’s Complete Coverage Of The Philadelphia Priest Sex Abuse Scandal

The prosecution has cited countless instances in which Archdiocesan officials were aware of alleged abuse by dozens of priests over decades, even cases in which priests admitted abuse, but allegedly the Archdiocese failed to act, often until the threat of a leak or legal action.

One prosecutor has told the court that was the concern of the Archdiocese. Another prosecutor told the court that church officials were not concerned about victims. They were concerned about liability, the almighty dollar, mother church.

There is a gag order in the case. All the charged defendants have pleaded not guilty.

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  • Neil Allen

    The Catholic church is the worllds largest pedophile protection program, with 4,392 pedophile priests according to their own voluntary report. That’s over 4,000 “Jrry Sandusky’s”, and that’s just in the United States.

    The things they did would make a human puke, and make a Catholic turn and walk away. For example, Fr Cudemo from Philadelphia got a 12 year girl pregnant and took her for an abortion. He had sex with at least 17 others. He’s free somewhere, at Jerry Sandusky’s age, on a Catholic pension. Read the first 6 pages for a summary at http://bit.ly/zAiW7S

  • Gloria Sullivan

    How ’bout the testimony of a billions of vunerable people that have been sexually abused by the Roman Catholic stance on “do whatever you want as long as your’re not caught ” group of priests, nuns and brothers. And for millenium(s) The RCC is the most un- christian institution in the world. With the most money and the most liars. That’s why it’s being sued in the Internatiional Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands. … for CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY Get real this is the Devil’s playground.!

  • http://rictvagencianoticias.wordpress.com/2012/01/26/chile-beatings-and-sexual-abuse-against-young-police/ Chile: Beatings and sexual abuse against young police « rictvagencianoticias

    [...] Prosecutors: Archdiocese Financially Motivated To Cover Up Sexual Abuse By Priests (philadelphia.cbslocal.com) [...]

  • Father Feelgood

    Keep using those Sunday envelopes so they can pay their lawyers, the pedophile priest fund as it is known! lol

  • DPierre

    The media is doing the public a tremendous disservice in this case.

    What they are not telling you is that these trials rest on the testimony of two men.

    The first – Mark Bukowski, the accuser of Fr. James Brennan – has a lengthy criminal history of fraud, theft, and forgery. He’s also been busted before by police for making up stories, including the tale of a violent home robbery that never even took place.

    The second accuser (“Billy” in last year’s grand jury report) is an admitted heroin user who has claimed that THREE different men raped and molested him. He has no contemporaneous corroboration, and if you read his wild accusations, it simply does not make any sense at all that no one saw anything at the time these alleged events happened. Even the archdiocesan review board – stacked with child welfare advocates and a group that removed several priests for abuse – didn’t buy his flimsy stories.

    This episode in Philadelphia could very well become the McMARTIN EPISODE of the entire Catholic abuse narrative. (Never heard of the McMartin trial? Look it up.)

    • Johan

      That is something for a jury to sort out.

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