By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — A former priest who admitted sexually assaulting a 5th-grade boy in the Philadelphia clergy sexual abuse scandal today recanted during the trial of another priest and a former lay teacher charged with sexually assaulting the same boy.
READ MORE: CBS3 SummerFest: Chandler Lutz's Favorite Spots Along The Wildwood BoardwalkDefrocked priest Edward Avery pleaded guilty last year to sexually assaulting the same boy who has also accused the defendants now on trial: Father Charles Engelhardt and Bernard Shero (see related story).
But Avery, called to the witness stand from prison where he is serving a 2½-5 year sentence, told the jury today that he never assaulted the boy, didn’t even know him, and only took the plea deal to avoid the possibility of a conviction and a sentence that might have kept him in prison for life.
READ MORE: 4 People Killed, 2 Possibly Unaccounted For In Pottstown House Explosion, Officials SayAvery, called by the prosecution, quickly became a so-called “hostile” witness, and during questioning that was at times heated, he conceded that he had admitted to the crimes in court — swore he committed them.
Prosecutors had been depending on Avery’s testimony to cement their case against Engelhardt and Shero (see related story).
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