Local news from metro.us/philadelphia

Monsignor William Lynn testifies for himself

REUTERS, PHILADELPHIA — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:53:00 -0400

Monsignor William Lynn testified yesterday at his criminal trial in a Philadelphia pedophilia case that he reassigned a predator priest to live in parish housing attached to an elementary school, where he ultimately abused another child.

Lynn, 61, the most senior U.S. clergyman to go on trial in the widespread U.S. Roman Catholic Church scandal, took the stand to defend himself against charges he covered up child sex abuse allegations against priests, many of whom were simply transferred to unsuspecting parishes.

He faces the possibility of 28 years in prison if convicted. The trial is in its ninth week.

Lynn, as secretary of the clergy under Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, supervised Philadelphia priests for 12 years. With 1.5 million members, the Philadelphia Archdiocese is the sixth largest in the United States.

Dressed in clerical garb and sounding upbeat under defense questioning, Lynn testified about how he handled an abuse complaint lodged in the 1990s against then-Reverend Edward Avery, who has since been defrocked.

Avery, who had been slated to go on trial with Lynn, pleaded guilty just days before the trial began and is serving up to five years in prison for sex crimes.

Lynn testified that in the 1990s, a young man came into his archdiocese office to complain that Avery had abused him 20 years earlier on a bed in a rectory in the 1970s.

"Father Avery touched him, groped him," Lynn testified.

Lynn said he confronted Avery and, when he denied the accusations, Lynn recommended sending him to a Catholic hospital for troubled clerics. After a few years of encouraging progress there, Lynn recommended the priest go back to work, he testified.

Lynn's initial recommendation to send Avery to work at a parish was overruled by his boss, Bevilacqua, who ordered Avery assigned to a chaplaincy instead. Lynn followed orders and, when allowed to choose where Avery would live, selected St. Jerome's Church, which also housed an elementary school.

Fourteen people arrested during rally against public education layoffs

SOLOMON D. LEACH, SOLOMON D. LEACH — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:58:39 -0400

Fourteen people were arrested during a union rally in Center City this afternoon opposing the Philadelphia School District's plan for massive layoffs and restructuring.

More than 1,000 members of the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ and their supporters gathered at the Municipal Services Building across from City Hall and marched up Broad Street to the district's headquarters near Spring Garden. They are contesting nearly 3,000 layoff notices handed out to school aides, bus drivers and other workers effective at the end of the school year.

The layoffs are part of the district's plan to close 40 schools in the next five years and convert more traditional schools to charters. Another major part of the overhaul includes decentralizing operations and relying on third-party organizations to manage clusters of schools, which critics consider privatization. The School Reform Commission has not yet voted on the plan.

SEIU members were also joined by members of the teachers' union, student organizations and parents. The protesters had unkind things to say about Gov. Corbett, who cut funding for public education last year.

"He is one son of a b---h," Kevin Doyle, executive vice president of SEIU Local 32BJ, told the crowd. "We're gonna stay here on these streets. We're gonna fight and we're gonna win."

The arrests took place near the intersection of Broad and Race streets when protesters sat down, blocking traffic. The protesters were loaded into police vans to be transported to police headquarters where they will be charged with obstructing the highway, a summary offense, Chief Inspector Joseph Sullivan said.

Pregnant woman shot, man killed in quadruple Grays Ferry shooting

ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, ALEX WIGGLESWORTH — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:51:00 -0400

Authorities are seeking a man on a motorcycle who allegedly shot four people in Grays Ferry last night, killing one man.

Police said the incident occurred around 9:15 p.m. on the 1400 block of South Etting Street, when a man sped by on a black and royal blue motorcycle and opened fire on a group of people.

One man, 22, was shot in the shoulder, a second man, 31, was shot in the leg and a pregnant woman, 29, was also shot in the leg. All are in stable condition at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

A fourth victim, a 24-year-old man, was shot once in the back. He was initially listed in critical condition, but died at the hospital around 1 a.m.

Police describe the suspect as a black man with dreadlocks wearing a black sleeveless vest over a white shirt. He was last seen fleeing on the motorcycle northbound on 27th Street.

No arrests have yet been made.

Woman arrested for allegedly setting 10 fires in the Frankford area

ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, ALEX WIGGLESWORTH — Wed, 23 May 2012 14:17:04 -0400

A woman has been arrested in connection with 10 fires set around the Frankford area, police said.

Noelle Bilbrough, 36, of the 1600 block of Pratt Street in Frankford, was taken into custody around 5:15 p.m. yesterday evening on the 1600 block of Orthodox Street and is charged with 10 counts of arson, causing a catastrophe and criminal mischief and 12 counts of reckless endangerment. She was arraigned around 1:40 p.m. this afternoon and bail was set at $200,000, according to court documents.

Police said Bilbrough allegedly set two fires in Frankford Sunday, one to an abandoned apartment on the 4400 block of Paul Street – which became a two-alarm blaze and prompted the evacuation of 10 people – and one on the 1500 block of Sellers Street.

She allegedly set a fire that started at a vacant residence and tore through three homes on the 1600 block of Kinsey Street Saturday and a fire on the 4200 block of Kensington Avenue May 17, as well as fires on the 4600 block and 4400 blocks of Frankford Avenue, the 4600 block of Ditman Street and the 4400 block of Griscom Street – all in Frankford – plus one on the 1200 block of Adams Avenue in Crescentville.

Bilbrough has a lengthy criminal history. Court documents show she was arrested May 2 for promoting prostitution and solicitation and on April 14 for receiving stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. She is awaiting a status listing on the former charge, for which her court date was set June 5, and a preliminary hearing on the latter count, for which she was to appear June 28.

Bilbrough was also found guilty of possession of a controlled substance in 2008 and of prostitution and promoting prostitution in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, for which she received probation each time. She allegedly violated her probation on four dates in 2007 through 2009.

According to Bilbrough's Facebook page, she studied criminal justice at the University of Phoenix, last worked as an Assistant Manager at Family Dollar Stores in 2008 and originally hails from Pine Hill, New Jersey.

View Fires allegedly set by Frankford woman Noelle Bilbrough in a larger map

VIDEO: Search on for parents who locked child in Camden washing machine

ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, ALEX WIGGLESWORTH — Wed, 23 May 2012 12:48:56 -0400

A YouTube video posted late last week that shows a man accidentally locking his child in a running washing machine at a laundromat in Camden has drawn millions of views — and the attention of authorities, multiple media outlets reported today.

The child became trapped in the machine while playing a game of peek-a-boo with his father, who shut the washer's door. He allegedly didn't realize that someone had already put money in the machine. It automatically turned on and began its spin cycle, tossing the boy in circles.

The video, dated May 11, shows the child's parents frantically trying to free him for about a minute until a laundromat employee runs over, moves some tables out of the way and powers the machine off through its back panel. The boy emerges and appears to be unharmed.

Prosecutors reportedly want to find the parents to make sure the kid is OK, not to press criminal charges.

Jilted groom Steven Silverstein sues ex-fiance Kendra Platt-Lee over wedding expenses

CASSANDRA GARRISON, NEW YORK — Wed, 23 May 2012 09:59:23 -0400

In a story of a love grown cold, a rejected groom says it's time for his ex-fiance to pay up.

Upper East Side business executive Steven Silverstein filed a lawsuit against former flame Kendra Platt-Lee, claiming she owes him about $50,000 after she called off their wedding twice, the most recent time just months before she was set to walk down the aisle, according to the New York Post.

The couple met while Platt-Lee was working as a flight attendant in 2008 and were engaged a year later. She moved into Silverstein's $2,595-a-month East 86th Street apartment, which he claimed was paid for by him. That engagement was called off 2010 and the couple went their separate ways.

When they rekindled the flame and reunited more than a later, they moved into a more expensive apartment at $3,945 a month, which Silverstein said he also paid entirely on his own. The two made plans to wed at the Allegria Hote in Long Beach, Long Island this coming September 22 and Silverstein said in his suit that he shelled out money for down payments on the venue, the band, the DJ, the photographer and a videographer.

Things took a turn for the worse when Pratt-Lee when to California for a "one-week visit" in April and called Silverstein after ten days to cancel the wedding and end the relationship. Silverstein claims that she withdrew $54,367.87 from their joint bank account that same day, even though $19,269 of that money belonged to him.

Pratt-Lee did give back the $32,000 engagement ring given to her by Silverstein, but he is asking for much more — Silverstein is suing his former fiance for the $19,269 from the bank account, $28,000 in rent, and half of the $27,000 in wedding down payments.

But it doesn't end there — Pratt-Lee is filing a counter-suit against Silverstein claiming that he hasn't returned some of her possessions, including her make up. Her lawyer said she "generally denies" Silverstein's allegations.

Man charged with theft after bank accidentally deposits $69k in his account

ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, ALEX WIGGLESWORTH — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:34:34 -0400

Wells Fargo accidentally deposited $69,300 into the bank account of Bensalem man Joseph Bucci, 22, who was charged with felony counts of theft and receiving stolen property for failing to return the funds, township police said today.

By the time Wells Fargo caught the error and attempted to recover the money, Bucci had spent all but $2,000 of it. Police said an investigation revealed he bought food, clothing, furniture, a car, airline tickets and a pet dog.

Bucci turned himself in today and was released on $25,000 cash bail.

Firefighters union calls for fire commissioner's job over fatal Kensington blaze (UPDATED)

ALEX WIGGLESWORTH, ALEX WIGGLESWORTH — Tue, 22 May 2012 19:20:25 -0400

Firefighters Local Union 22 called for the resignations of Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers and two deputies Tuesday afternoon for their leadership shortcomings in the five-alarm blaze at Kensington's vacant Thomas W. Buck Hosiery Complex in April that killed Firefighter Lt. Robert Neary, 60, and Firefighter Daniel Sweeney, 25.

"We believe Commissioner Lloyd Ayers and Deputy Commissioners Ernest Hargett and John Devlin are all guilty of incompetence and indifference," Union President Bill Gault said.

But representatives of Mayor Michael Nutter's administration said they had "the utmost faith" in the department's leadership and no changes will occur. "Local 22, for whatever reason, feels it is in their best interest to come out with scandalous and scurrilous lies and information," Director of Public Safety Mike Resnick said, citing pending investigations by a grand jury and the National Institute for Occupational Safety as limitations on further comment.

Neary and Sweeney died when a wall collapsed at an adjacent furniture store. "The fire was under control and they were ordered to go into that building to check for an extension of the fire," Sergeant-at-Arms Jack Eltman said. He said union members have been speaking to firefighters who were on the scene and reviewing photos. "One of the chiefs stated that you can blame every white hat that was in the fire department – and he was on the ground."

"It makes no sense – you lose a building a block square and here you've got a section that's not even salvageable," he said. "Let the damn thing burn."

"The most egregious mistake was never establishing or maintaining a collapse zone," union secretary Mike Bresnan said, pointing to pictures released Tuesday showing a firefighter surrounded by crumbling properties and a supervisor on the building's top. "The furniture store is the one story section where our brothers died and you have a member on the roof," he said.

Bresnan said that those in charge should have conducted a risk-benefit analysis and instead limited the fire's spread to a controlled burn because there were no people inside. "This is a case where it's a furniture store," he said. "Who are we concerned about, the furniture?"

"That was a wind-driven fire," Eltman said. "You get into a situation that it's almost a fire you can't beat. All you can do is stop it from spreading to surrounding properties."

The union leaders also said that Ayers did not respond until after the fatal collapse and that second-in-command Hargett was on the scene but never assumed command from Devlin because he was untrained to do so.

They claimed this lack of training is epidemic in the fire department because of budget cutbacks, which they also cited as reason for the fact that the fire was limited to five alarms. They said it should have reached seven or eight alarms, but, due to brownouts and closed stations, there is a lack of resources to fight such fires.

"We're down 300 members," Vice President Tim McShea said. "The reason it doesn't go above more than five alarms is because they have to call in more members and they don't want to do that, even if they lose a few."

Resnick maintained that Ayers was on the scene and that officials did establish a collapse zone.

"We have no answers, we have more questions," Eltman said. "But we know there was negligence on that job."

Heated history

The fire began around 3 a.m. April 9 and burned for about two hours. High winds carried embers to surrounding properties, prompting the evacuation of 31 homes. Neary and Sweeney were killed and two other firefighters when an interior wall of the furniture store collapsed, bringing the roof down with it and burying the men in rubble.

Until now, most of the criticism surrounding the incident has been directed at the city and the property owners, Yeichiel and Michael Lichtenstein of Brooklyn-based YML Realty Holdings. The union said that Mayor Michael Nutter's administration, the Lichtensteins and fire department leadership are all equally culpable.

Neighborhood activists like Christopher Sawyer said at the time they had been bombarding the city's 311 hotline with calls since November complaining about the property purchased in 2009 with the intent to convert it into apartment units.

The Nutter administration shot back that the 311 complaints were not ignored, claiming an investigator was sent out six days after they were made and pointing to three L&I citations sent to the Lichtensteins beginning in November detailing safety hazards on the property.

The owners allegedly did not respond to any of the citations within the required 30-day waiting period and a judgment was issued in March to send the building to sheriff's sale, which Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Everett Gillison estimated would have taken place in June or July.

The District Attorney's Office impaneled a grand jury about a week after the fire to look into possible criminal charges against the Lichtensteins. Those findings have not yet been released and fire union officials said that they could take a year to return.

Our parents were criminals

DANNY CEVALLOS, DANNY CEVALLOS — Tue, 22 May 2012 14:06:26 -0400

In the wake of the Tanning Mom scandal, the New Jersey assembly is proposing banning use of tanning salons by children. In addition, yet another Mom has been arrested for solar abuse of a child in Pennsylvania.

The Jersey mom has been charged with child endangerment under NJ law, which provides that a person having a legal duty for the care of a child who causes the child harm that meets the definition of “abuse” or “neglect” (as defined by NJ law) commits a crime of the second degree. So what is abuse or neglect? It’s defined as loosely as: a risk of physical harm, or failing to take proper care of the child. What exactly does that mean? Under that broad definition, my own Mom committed crimes when she:

•   Locked my brothers and I in the station wagon at the grocery store parking lot with the window cracked;

•   Let us jump off the high dive at the community pool (remember high dives?--thanks lawyers);

•   Burned through two lighters a day smoking cigarettes around us. (Not two packs, mind you. Two lighters.)

All of these exposed us potentially to “harm,” under the statute. Under the statute, your parents were surely criminals at some point. And if you have kids, you have been a criminal at some point too, even though you likely strap your kid into his car seat like it’s a NASA shuttle launch.

And this is the problem: we’ve drafted criminal codes so broadly that criminal activity is not a matter of tangible, ascertainable definition, but rather human discretion. And that discretion is often influenced by a singular, bizarre incident, and the public pressure that results.

Do we really need to pass legislation on the tanning industry because of this one incident? Is that the best use of the lawmakers’ time?

I’m not saying Tanning Mom is Mother of the Year. I’m more concerned about how we as a society are now trying to legislate aspects of human behavior that are not really legislate-able. If exposing a kid to ultra-violet rays is abuse or endangerment, then isn’t letting your kids run amok on the beach in Wildwood in July without sunscreen also “endangerment”? Is moving your family to sunny Arizona per se endangerment of your children? All of these expose kids to solar radiation--possibly more than a tanning bed. Every parent arguably exposes their child to some harm every day. And while we’re talking about potential harm, what about the actual harm absent dads are imposing every day on an entire generation? If I had to choose between (1) Mom forcing me into a tanning booth, and (2) Dad being just a phone call at Christmas, I say: slather me in Hawaiian Tropic, and let’s get our Pauly-D on. But we won’t condemn absent Dads because, well, did you see Tanning Mom? What’s more interesting to you? Of course. The train wreck is.

Negligent parenting is about the biggest--and most ignored--social crisis today. But the solution begins with parents--not with legislation. We will always have bad parents--after all, without them, who’s going to keep the porn industry supplied with fresh talent? Hopefully, not you. Take care of your own little snowflake; don’t ask the law to do it for you.

Defense begins in landmark priest sex-abuse case

SOLOMON D. LEACH, SOLOMON D. LEACH — Tue, 22 May 2012 13:36:19 -0400

The defense in the landmark priest sex-abuse trial began their case today by calling a former Archdiocese official who testified that Monsignor William Lynn was not the sole authority in transferring predator priests.

Lynn is accused of protecting the Catholic Church over victims of sexual abuse by transferring alleged abusers. Also on trial is Rev. James Brennan, accused of attempted sexual abuse of a 14-year-old boy at his West Chester home.

Monsignor Joseph Garvin, former Secretary for Catholic Human Services, was the first defense witness after following eight weeks of testimony from priests, alleged victims and investigators called by prosecutors. Garvin testified that Lynn could recommend a transfer for priests, but the ultimate decision was made by the cardinal.

One of Lynn's attorneys claimed in opening arguments that Lynn's decisions were often overruled by the late Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua.

Monsignor Michael McCaulkin, who worked as Lynn's assistant from 1994 to 1997, also took the stand. He testified that he and Lynn were part of a three-person staff responsible for investigating all abuse claims until about 2002 when four separate offices were created in response to the sex-abuse allegations that rocked the Boston Archdiocese.

Lynn is the first Catholic church official in the U.S. criminally charged for failing to take action against alleged sex abuse.

The trial is expected to last a few more weeks.