PHILADELPHIA, April 2 (UPI) -- Two more jurors were excused Monday from a Philadelphia jury hearing the case against a Catholic priest accused of covering up sexual abuse by another priest.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported no reasons were provided by the judge or attorneys in the case, now in the second week of trial.
Two other jurors had been removed at the start of the trial for Msgr. William J. Lynn after saying they had read or been influenced by pretrial publicity.
A dozen jurors and six alternates remain to hear the case. Judge M. Teresa Sarmina reminded them she has asked them not to report to their jobs on days when the trial is not in session, such as last Friday, the newspaper said.
A memo read in court Monday revealed that one of nine boys allegedly abused by the Rev. John A. Cannon at a summer camp in the early 1960s, and who had come forward in 1992, had been told by Lynn that Cannon and all priests accused of abuse would be immediately removed, the Inquirer said.
"He was told they are never assigned where children are concerned," the memo stated.
However, by that time Cannon had spent 20 years at Cardinal O'Hara High School and he remained a chaplain at a girls school in Holland, Pa. for years after that.
