Former priest pleads guility
Diocese of Brooklyn
on clergy sexual abuse
January 24, 2006

Father Joseph P. Byrns pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child Monday (Jan. 23) in Brooklyn Supreme Court and he will be sentenced by Judge Robert J. Collini March 7.

In the plea agreement, it is expected that the former pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church, Parkville, will not receive a prison sentence. He will be placed on probation for three years and will be required to enroll in a sex-offender treatment program.

The plea was announced moments after Judge Collini declared a mistrial when a 12-member jury that began hearing testimony Jan. 12 said it had reached an impasse following three-and-a-half days of deliberation.

In a trial prosecuted by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, Father Byrns was charged with inappropriate behavior with a St. Rose of Lima altar boy when he was pastor. The boy now lives in Florida.

The Diocese placed the priest on administrative leave in 2002 when an investigation by the Queens District Attorney’s Office indicated that complaints by Robert and Father Timothy Lambert that they were abused by Father Byrns when they were youths in Douglaston were found to be credible.

A subsequent investigation by the Diocesan Review Board, formed in compliance with the U.S. Bishops’ “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” and the accompanying “Essential Norms,” came to the same conclusion.

Documents regarding the findings were sent to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to determine Father Byrns future status in the priesthood. Diocesan officials said that a report of this week’s case will also be sent to the Vatican congregation.

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1/24/06