A priest joked about how hard it was to have sex with three boys in one week, claimed internal Catholic church documents revealed in court for the first time yesterday.
The startling testimony came in the trial of Monsignor William Lynn, 61, who is accused of helping the Philadelphia archdiocese bury priest abuse complaints in secret files.
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Prosecutors are detailing allegations made against nearly two dozen priests since 1948 to show Lynn and other officials kept suspected predators in jobs around children.
Giving evidence, a detective read internal church memos about a priest who is said to have 'joked about how hard it was to have sex with three boys in one week.' The priest's accuser also alleged that the priest had a 'rotation process' of boys spending time sleeping with him.
Jurors also heard testimony telling of a 1992 complaint about a priest accused of molesting boys at a church-owned camp three decades earlier. Several junior counselors complained in the early Sixties that the priest was on the prowl at night, molesting them in their tents. They said it was a well-known secret among teenage counselors for several years.
The priest remained in ministry, working at three archdiocesan high schools and serving as assistant superintendent of Catholic schools through 2004.
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In cross-examination yesterday, Jeffrey Lindy and Thomas Bergstrom, defending, had detectives concede that Lynn promptly interviewed both complainants and accused priests and sent the priests to a church-run hospital for mental health evaluations and treatment.
However, they claim many of his efforts were blocked by the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua and others in the Philadelphia archdiocese. Cardinal Bevilacqua died of heart disease on January 31, a day after he was ruled competent to testify at Lynn's trial.
