Earlier this week, we wrote about the seemingly endless expansion of Pennsylvania laws as related to sexual abuse perpetrated by priests and other clergy members. Despite that massive expansion, a Pennsylvania grand jury expressed frustration in 2005 that they were still unable to charge several church officials with sex crimes under any Pennsylvania law.

However, four years ago, state legislators expanded the child endangerment law. Previously, the law had only validly sanctioned direct caretakers of children, such as parents and teachers, for not protecting children in their care. Under the expanded law, however, supervisors and employers whose employees committed child abuse in any form while the child was in the employer's care could now be held liable for that abuse.

It is under this expanded law that former secretary for clergy Msgr. William Lynn was recently arrested and charged with two felony counts of child endangerment. Prosecutors are alleging that Lynn was aware of the sex crimes being perpetrated by priests, but that he continued to place children in the care of these known offenders.

Lynn's attorneys remain confident about their client and their case, stating that the changes to the child endangerment law essentially created a new law and that Lynn can therefore not be held liable for anything that he allegedly did prior to its enactment.

Lynn is expected to plead not guilty in his first court appearance later this week. Several other members of the clergy will also appear in court at that time, including two priests and a parochial schoolteacher accused of sodomy and rape in the widely publicized "altar boys" cases.

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer, "Changes in Pennsylvania law open door to charges of sex abuse by Philadelphia clergy", David O'Reilly, 28 February 2011