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Accused seeking justice in unusual way
Source: Agencies |
November 13, 2010, Saturday
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WILL Lynch is looking for justice in an unusual way. Charged with savagely beating the priest he says molested him as a child, he plans to try to use his trial to publicly shame the Reverend Jerold Lindner in court in the United States.
Law experts say he faces an uphill battle. However, priest abuse victims are cheering Lynch on and offering to donate to his defense fund.
"Somebody needs to be a face for this abuse and I'm prepared to put myself on the line," Lynch told The Associated Press in the first interview since his arrest last month. "There's nothing they can take from me that they haven't already taken."
Lynch is accused of luring Lindner to the lobby of a retirement home in May and beating him bloody in front of horrified witnesses. Lynch, 43, planned to plead not guilty at his arraignment on an assault charge yesterday.
Lynch accuses the 65-year-old Jesuit priest of sexually abusing him and his younger brother in 1975 during weekend camping trips in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The boys, 7 and 4 at the time, were raped and forced to have oral sex with each other while Lindner watched, Lynch said.
Lindner has repeatedly denied abusing anyone and has never been criminally charged. He hung up on Wednesday when AP called him for comment.
In a deposition in the late 1990s, Lindner said he didn't recall Lynch or his brother, though the siblings received US$625,000 in a 1998 confidential settlement with the Jesuits for alleged abuse by the priest.
Lynch said memories of the priest have tormented him for years, and he struggled through alcohol abuse, depression, nightmares and divorce. He tried to commit suicide twice and told the Los Angeles Times in 2002 that he often thought about confronting Lindner.
Authorities say Lynch acted on that fantasy when he attacked the priest on May 10 after the cleric failed to recognize him at the Jesuits' Sacred Heart retirement home in Los Gatos. Lindner has recovered from the attack.
Lynch said he hopes to use his case to highlight Lindner's alleged abuse.
Law experts say he faces an uphill battle. However, priest abuse victims are cheering Lynch on and offering to donate to his defense fund.
"Somebody needs to be a face for this abuse and I'm prepared to put myself on the line," Lynch told The Associated Press in the first interview since his arrest last month. "There's nothing they can take from me that they haven't already taken."
Lynch is accused of luring Lindner to the lobby of a retirement home in May and beating him bloody in front of horrified witnesses. Lynch, 43, planned to plead not guilty at his arraignment on an assault charge yesterday.
Lynch accuses the 65-year-old Jesuit priest of sexually abusing him and his younger brother in 1975 during weekend camping trips in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The boys, 7 and 4 at the time, were raped and forced to have oral sex with each other while Lindner watched, Lynch said.
Lindner has repeatedly denied abusing anyone and has never been criminally charged. He hung up on Wednesday when AP called him for comment.
In a deposition in the late 1990s, Lindner said he didn't recall Lynch or his brother, though the siblings received US$625,000 in a 1998 confidential settlement with the Jesuits for alleged abuse by the priest.
Lynch said memories of the priest have tormented him for years, and he struggled through alcohol abuse, depression, nightmares and divorce. He tried to commit suicide twice and told the Los Angeles Times in 2002 that he often thought about confronting Lindner.
Authorities say Lynch acted on that fantasy when he attacked the priest on May 10 after the cleric failed to recognize him at the Jesuits' Sacred Heart retirement home in Los Gatos. Lindner has recovered from the attack.
Lynch said he hopes to use his case to highlight Lindner's alleged abuse.
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