Breaking news: Convicted priest must stay in jail; sentencing moved up

The first highly placed Catholic official convicted in a sex-abuse case will stay in jail while he awaits sentencing, which was moved up to July 24. Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina on Thursday rejected a request to allow Monsignor William Lynn to live under house arrest in the Lower Northeast home of Rita DeCarolis, an elderly in-law’s in-law. The judge also moved up Lynn’s sentencing date, which was originally set for Aug. 13. On June 22, a jury found the 61- year-old monsignor guilty of one count of endangering children. He immediately was taken into custody and has been held in the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility on State Road. Prosecutors have said they will ask for the maximum sentence of seven years and added they viewed Lynn as a flight risk. Lynn faces from three and a half years to seven years imprisonment. Lynn’s attorneys said they planned to appeal the conviction once Sarmina sentences their client.