Blessington is now retired. And, ultimately, District Attornery Krasner decided not to try that strategy.
“The victims in this matter expressed to the commonwealth that proceeding (with another trial) … would cause irreparable harm and further victimize them,” his office said in its statement.
The trial accuser said that he had been abused by two priests and his Catholic school teacher. One of them, defrocked priest Edward Avery, took a plea offer days before trial. The Rev. Charles Engelhardt, who said he had never met the accuser, was convicted at a 2013 trial and died in prison. Teacher Bernard Shero was released in 2017 after his conviction was overturned and, like Lynn, pleaded no contest to lesser charges.
The priest-abuse scandal has cost the Roman Catholic church an estimated $3 billion or more, and plunged dioceses around the world into bankruptcy.
___ Follow Maryclaire Dale on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Maryclairedale
This article originally appeared here.Â
