Philly priest-abuse jury ends day without verdict

PHILADELPHIA - June 5, 2012 (WPVI) -- Jurors have finished a third day of deliberations without reaching a verdict in a groundbreaking priest-abuse trial in Philadelphia.

Monsignor William Lynn is the first U.S. church official charged with child endangerment and conspiracy for allegedly keeping predator-priests in ministry.

Lynn is the former secretary for clergy at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

The Rev. James Brennan, a co-defendant, is charged with molesting a 14-year-old boy in 1996.

Meanwhile, the archdiocese says it has spent $11.6 million on legal fees stemming from priest-abuse cases since 2011.

That includes the cost of defending criminal and civil cases, and of internal investigations of about 25 accused priests suspended last year. But it doesn't include much of Lynn's 11-week trial.

Archbishop Charles Chaput calls the spending on legal fees "disheartening."

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philadelphia, philadelphia archdiocese, child sex assault, local/state

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