How many children were molested in the secret society of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) in Broward County by Randolph Pozdol??

The "Turning a blind eye" is no longer tolerated, not even for priests as can be seen by the July 24, 2012 conviction of Msgr. William J. Lynn in Pennsylvania for not protecting and covering up pedophilia of fellow priests. Alcoholics Anonymous does not have the legal right to hide and cover up these crimes that priests do and will be the next segment to be prosecuted. It may start with AA Broward County and the Randolph Pozdol pedophilia incident.

Msgr. Lynn sentenced to three to six years in prison

By John P. Martin and Joseph A. Slobodzian
INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS Posted: Tue, Jul. 24, 2012, 5:39 AM

Msgr. William J. Lynn was sentenced to 3 to 6 years in state prison Tuesday by a judge who said he turned a blind eye while "monsters in clerical garb" sexually abused children, devastating families and shaking the Catholic church across Philadelphia and beyond.

Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said she believed Lynn was once the kind and selfless parish priest that his suppporters so passionately described. But as the aide Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua tapped to investigate clergy-sex abuse, Lynn instead chose to protect the church over victims, she said.

"You knew full well what was right, Monsignor Lynn, but you chose wrong," she told him.

The sentence, the first for a Catholic leader for enabling clergy sex abuse, fell just short of the maximum seven-year term Philadelphia prosecutors sought. It was hailed by victims and advocates who had complained church officials long eluded justice for accomodating or concealing priests' attacks on children.

Lynn's lawyers wanted a probation or a county jail term, and were disappointed at a sentence they said was disproportionate to the defendant and his crime, a single count of child endangerment.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which paid for Lynn's defense but has been largely silent about his case, also questioned the term.

"We hope that when this punishment is objectively reviewed, it will be adjusted," it said in a statement.

Clad in his black clerical garb and white collar, Lynn told the judge that he was sorry for his "failings" during the 12 years he worked as Bevilacqua's secretary for clergy.

He spoke briefly and softly, repeating a mantra he first issued from the witness stand during his trial - that he did his best given limited power.

"But the fact is, my best was not good enough - and for that I'm truly sorry," he said.

Under state guidelines, Lynn will have to serve at least three years in prison before being eligible for parole.

Even then, his chances at getting out after serving the minimum could be slim. The state parole board has been reluctant to grant early release to inmates convicted of sex-crimes involving children.

On June 22, a jury found Lynn guilty of endangering children by not removing a priest in the 1990s after discovering the cleric once molested a teen. That priest , Edward Avery, later sexually assaulted a 10-year-old altar boy.

The jury acquitted Lynn of two other charges, including that he had conspired with church leaders to endanger children. But Sarmina declared him a risk to flee, revoked his bail and sent him straight to prison.

His sentencing hearing unfolded in a courtroom crammed with representatives from each of the groups touched by a decade of scrutiny on clergy-sex abuse in Philadelphia.

They included prosecutors and investigators who long portrayed Lynn as a gatekeeper for the archdiocese.

Evidence they culled from secret church files and produced during his three-month trial showed that Lynn catologued dozens of abuse complaints between 1992 and 2004. But he was often slow to seek out other victims, share information with accusers, or press the cardinal to remove priests who had been accused or even admitted abusing children.

Lynn's relatives, friends and former parishioners also packed several rows in the courtroom, and hundreds more sent letters to the judge, defending him as an undeserving scapegoat for flaws of church leaders.

A half-dozen took the stand and, at times tearfully, described the 61-year-old cleric as a kind, caring priest who mentored young clerics, consoled troubled mothers, rushed to the bedside of the dying and, at least later in his career, was vigilant about protecting children.

"There are very, very few people that we let get close to our children - and Monsignor Lynn is one of them," said Matt Coyne, and father of seven children and a parishioner at St. Joseph in Downingtown, where Lynn was pastor from 2004 until his arrest last year. "That is a good man . . . welcome in my home anytime."

Nearly as many courtroom seats were filled by relatives of the former Northeast Philadelphia altar boy who became the central victim the case. The man, now in his 20s, was sexually abused in 1999 at St. Jerome Church by Avery.

Assistant Patrick Attorney Patrick Blessington told the judge that Lynn may have been a good priest, but he was a "criminal" secretary for clergy.

"Of course he did good - every priest does good," Blessington said. "There is a time for mercy and a time for justice. This is a time for justice. How many opportunities did that defendant have to show victims mercy?"

Recounting letters from victims, Blessington said Lynn had a front-row seat to the horrors of clergy-sex abuse when he met with victims. They described being raped or fondled as children and spending years battling addiction, depression, suicidal thoughts and the inability to form or maintain relationships.

"He studied it, he saw it, but most importantly, he ignored it," Blessington said.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/breaking/20120724_Lynne_scheduled_for_...