Witness: Man changed story at priest’s canon trial
The judge in an internal Catholic church trial says a man accusing a priest of sexual assault once changed his story.
Monsignor Kevin Quirk, a canon lawyer now in West Virginia, testified Monday in the Rev. James Brennan’s criminal priest-abuse trial in Philadelphia.
Quirk presided over the 2008 church trial. He detailed allegations that Brennan sexually assaulted a 14-year-old during a 1996 sleepover at the priest’s apartment.
On cross-examination, Quirk said he never delved into the man’s second allegation because the accuser withdrew that complaint.
The 48-year-old Brennan has denied any criminal wrongdoing. He met the accuser at a suburban parish and later worked at Cardinal O’Hara High School.
He’s on trial with the Monsignor William Lynn, a Philadelphia church official charged with endangering children by leaving predator-priests in ministry.
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