UPDATED::Philly archdiocese settles sexual-abuse civil suit

UPDATE:: Catholic school teacher convicted of child rape freed early

A former Catholic school teacher convicted of raping a child was released more than a decade early from prison on Wednesday after a judge threw out his conviction amid questions about his accuser's truthfulness.

Rather than face a new trial, however, Bernard Shero, 54, pleaded no contest on Monday to less serious child rape and assault charges and was sentenced to the roughly four years in prison he's already served. He originally was sentenced in 2013 to up to 16 years.

The accuser had helped to convict three other church officials, including a monsignor who became the first to be criminally charged for mishandling complaints about sexual abuse by priests.

Retired detective Joseph Walsh, who had worked on the case for the district attorney's office, told prosecutors several times that he could not corroborate the accuser's story. But the detective said they dismissed him, with one assistant district attorney going so far as to tell him "you're killing my case," according to a court filing.

UPDATE:  Philly Altar Boy Sex Scandal Gets Uglier   

I don’t remember.
I really don’t remember.
I honestly don’t remember.

That’s what former Philadelphia altar boy Daniel Gallagher had to say when questioned about the numerous and contradictory allegations of sex abuse he’s made over the years to doctors, drug counselors and social workers. During a confidential deposition over two full days in May and June 2014, Gallagher claimed he couldn’t remember more than 130 times.

The skinny, tattooed, 27-year-old former drug addict and admitted dealer was the Philadelphia district attorney’s star witness at two criminal trials in 2012 and 2013. Gallagher’s testimony about allegedly being repeatedly raped when he was an altar boy sent three priests and a Catholic schoolteacher to jail.

Since then, however, Gallagher’s credibility is unraveling under the scrutiny of expert witnesses, and the criminal convictions resulting from his testimony have been the subject of two successful legal appeals, with more challenges on the way.

UPDATE:: As noted in the previous update, there have been questions raised as to the truthfulness of "Billy Doe", known as Dan Gallagher.  The situation surrounding said case has become rather bizarre and is beyond the scope of what I normally present.  But if Engelhardt, Shero, and Avery are innocent of the charges, it raises many red flags.  TheMediaReport.com also raises this important question of what responsibility does the media have? Although they do appear to have one specific target in mind

One would think that the scandal of a drug-addled Philadelphia man making false abuse accusations against multiple Catholic priests – all of whom were convicted and landed in prison, where one has already died – would merit at least a tiny mention in Philly's newspaper of record, the Philadelphia Inquirer. Heck, it was noteworthy enough to merit a huge cover story in Newsweek magazine only a couple weeks ago.

And indeed during the trials against these priests, the Inquirer gave wall-to-wall coverage with countless stories and hysterical headlines.

But the Inky's editor-in-chief, Bill Marimow, has made it clear that he has no interest in informing his readers about a fraud being perpetrated right in his own backyard against the Catholic Church.

Scandal? What Scandal? Philadelphia Inquirer Ignores Blockbuster Story of Bogus Accusations Against Priests In Its Own Backyard

UPDATE:: Psychiatrist questions 'Billy Doe's' claim of priest sexual abuse, Newsweek reports

Lynn is serving a three- to six-year term as he appeals his conviction for endangering the welfare of a child. He was ordered back behind bars in late April after Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Teresa Sarmina revoked his bail. But in December a panel of three state Superior Court judges overturned his conviction, and ordered a new trial. He remains in a Northeast Pennsylvania prison.

The Rev. Charles Engelhardt and English teacher Bernard Shero were both convicted in the case, while Edward V. Avery was sentenced to five years in jail after pleading guilty in 2012. Engelhardt died in prison while appealing his conviction.

According to Newsweek, Slade McLaughlin, a Center City lawyer for "Billy Doe," dropped the civil suit against the individual defendants shortly after receiving Mechanick’s report on Oct. 28.

UPDATE:: Bernard Shero Loses In State Supreme Court

The state Supreme Court on New Year's Eve turned down an appeal by Bernard Shero in the Billy Doe case.

On June 12, 2013, Shero, then 51, was sentenced by Judge Ellen Ceisler to 8 to 16 years in jail after he was convicted by a jury of rape of a child, attempted rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, endangering the welfare of a child, corruption of a minor, and indecent assault.

The Supreme Court decision means that Shero is out of appeals on the state court level. In a 36-page decision last March, a panel of three Superior Court judges ruled that seven appeals issues raised by Shero, a former Catholic school teacher, "are either waived or devoid of merit."

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The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has settled a civil lawsuit brought by an accuser whose testimony helped convict two Catholic priests and a former parish-school teacher on sexual abuse charges, and aided in the unprecedented prosecution of a church administrator for covering up the priests' crimes.

In filings Tuesday, Common Pleas Court Judge Jacqueline F. Allen said the plaintiff - a 26-year-old man identified only as "Billy Doe" - had "settled any and all claims" against the archdiocese and two former church officials. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

A spokesman for the archdiocese did not return calls for comment Wednesday, nor did lawyers for Doe.
Their agreement - first reported by the legal blog BigTrial.net - is at least the third this year between the church and its accusers.

Previous agreements have contained clauses barring the parties from discussing their deals publicly.

Philly archdiocese settles sexual-abuse civil suit

D.A. Loses Appeal In Msgr. Lynn Case; Bail Motion May Be Next | Big Trial | Philadelphia Trial Blog

This is another one of the "pedophile priest" cases that gets a bit convoluted but like the previous cases involving  Engelhardt, Shero, and Avery justice must be served correctly.

If one remembers back on January 31st, mention was made by Philly.com that Lynn's conviction was reversed and a new trial ordered.

This was the same trial in which Msgr. William J. Lynn, an archdiocesan official, was convicted of child endangerment for his supervisory role investigating and recommending discipline against priests found to have sexually abused children.

Lynn, who turns 65 on Jan. 5, was the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s secretary for clergy from 1992 to 2004. He is serving a three- to six-year prison term in the state prison at Waymart in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

On Dec. 22, a Superior Court panel reversed Lynn’s conviction a second time and ordered a new trial. The Philadelphia District Attorney’s office has asked the full Superior Court to reconsider that decision, which is pending.

 Since that time DA Seth Williams has appealed that previous ruling and lost.

Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams lost an appeal in state Superior Court this morning in his crusade to keep Msgr. William J. Lynn behind bars.

Williams had asked the full, nine-member court to review a Dec. 22nd decision by a three-court panel of Superior Court judges that reversed Lynn's conviction and ordered a new trial. But in a one-sentence decision released this morning, the Superior Court announced that the D.A.'s application "requesting reargument" of the case before the full court had been "DENIED."
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In their most recent reversal, the same panel of three state Superior Court judges ruled that the trial court had "abused its discretion" by allowing 21 supplemental cases of sex abuse to be admitted as evidence against Lynn.

The 21 cases dated back to 1948, three years before Lynn was born, and took up at least 25 days of the 32-day trial. In his appeal brief, Lynn's lawyer, Thomas A. Bergstrom, argued that the prosecution "introduced these files to put on trial the entire Archdiocese of Philadelphia, hoping to convict [Lynn] by proxy for the sins of the entire church."

The Superior Court judges agreed, ruling that the "probative value" of the supplemental cases "did not outweigh its potential for unfair prejudice, and that this potential prejudice was not overcome by the trial court's cautionary instructions."

In their decision, the Superior Court judges heavily criticized Judge Sarmina.

I find this very telling if reported accurately.

"None of the evidence concerned the actual victim in this case, and none of it directly concerned [Lynn's] prior dealings with either [former priest Edward V.] Avery or [Father James J.] Brennan," the Superior Court judges wrote, referring to the two co-defendants who were on trial with Lynn. "In this regard, the trial court has apparently mistaken quantity for quality in construing the probative value of this evidence en masse." The Superior Court judges further declared that the "probative value of significant quantities of this evidence was trivial or minimal."

D.A. Loses Appeal In Msgr. Lynn Case; Bail Motion May Be Next | Big Trial | Philadelphia Trial Blog

See also::   Court stands by decision overturning cleric's conviction