Jury ends 9th day in priest abuse trial

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PHILADELPHIA, June 16 (UPI) -- Jurors in the Philadelphia trial of a Catholic official charged with enabling child abuse reviewed his testimony Friday, their ninth day of deliberation.

After listening to a read back of part of Monsignor William Lynn's cross-examination, jurors returned briefly to deliberate before being excused for the weekend, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Lynn, who served as clergy secretary for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, is charged with two counts of conspiracy and one of child endangerment. He is the first church official to be tried for covering for priests who molested children.

A co-defendant, the Rev. James Brennan, is charged with the attempted rape of a 14-year-old boy in 1996.

While the jury has given no hint it is close to a verdict, jurors have sent the judge no messages about being unable to reach a verdict. When they appeared in the courtroom Friday, however, some jurors appeared angry, the Inquirer said, and all looked tired.

Lynn testified that the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua made final decisions on clergy deployment. He said he did his best to protect potential victims while helping priests.