Seth Williams is not done with Monsignor William Lynn.
Not by a long shot.
The Philadelphia D.A. yesterday strode to the microphones and indicated he has no intention of letting the recent court ruling setting aside the monsignor's conviction on child endangerment charges stand.
The court ruled that Lynn, who already has served most of his three- to six-year sentence, deserves a new trial. Williams wants to keep him behind bars.
Williams said he will ask the entire state Superior Court to review the ruling, and once again stated his case why Lynn should remain behind bars.
In doing so at a Monday afternoon press conference, Lynn again focused on what most believe, that Lynn was the point man for the archdiocese's policy of moving problem priests into new parishes without alerting residents of the potential dangers.
But he did not address what has become the legal focus of the case: That being that Lynn likely never should have been charged, let alone convicted, because the state statute did not apply to him at the time of the alleged act. The abuse took place in 1998, but the law was not updated to include those not in a direct supervisory role until 2007.
I have written several times on my beliefs both on Monsignor Lynn, as well as the archdiocese and their handling of the priest sex abuse scandal for years.
One thing I think can't be stressed enough is that Lynn was never charged with abuse. That's easy to forget. Instead he was charged with a single count of endangering the welfare of a child after an altar boy was abused by a priest who Lynn had recommended be relocated despite a record of problems.
If you look up scapegoat in the dictionary, you might see Monsignor Lynn's picture next to it.
He's the fall guy for the shameful actions of the leaders of the church in Philadelphia.
He's served time for his alleged transgression, in the process becoming the highest-ranking church official in the United States to be charged and convicted in this sad saga.
But enough is enough.
Lynn very likely was wrongly convicted, despite the clear pattern of this kind of actions that appear to have been carried out again and again by archdiocesan officials.
I don't think Seth Williams' arguments are going to change that.
Of course, they won't change the trail of tears left behind in the archdiocese's wake, either.
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