Trial could lay bare 'decades of child sex abuse coverup' in the Catholic archdiocese of Philadelphia

Charged: Monsignor William Lynn is accused of child endangerment for allegedly covering up priest sex abuse

The trial of a priest accused of covering up sex abuse for the Roman Catholic archdiocese in Philadelphia could expose decades of secrets the church has kept about child molestation by teachers and clergy.

Monsignor William Lynn is the first US church official ever charged with endangering children for allegedly failing to oust accused predators from the priesthood. But he may not be the last.

Philadelphia prosecutors say he helped carry out 'an archdiocesan-wide policy' that hid abuse allegations and transferred suspected priests to new parishes -- all without alerting police.

Civil lawyers believe the trial will help them refile priest-abuse lawsuits that were thrown out in Pennsylvania because of legal time limits, or persuade the state legislature to open a window for filing child sex-abuse claims.

'The evidence that has come out about the conspiracy and the cover-up and the level of officialdom involved in it is going to help us,' said lawyer Jay Abramowitch, whose priest-abuse lawsuit involving 18 accusers was thrown out by the state Supreme Court in 2005. Read More