Priest arrested on sexual abuse charges

I’m glad this guy will finally face the music:

PHILADELPHIA The Rev. Robert L. Brennan’s name loomed large in the “Secret Archives,” the guarded personnel files of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Brennan also figured prominently in Philadelphia grand jury reports in 2005 and 2011. In last year’s trial of a church official for covering up clergy sex abuse, witnesses detailed allegations that Brennan sexually abused about 20 boys while being transferred from parish to parish over a span of 15 years.

Brennan, however, was never charged because the allegations happened too far back to be prosecuted.

Until Thursday, when District Attorney Seth Williams announced the arrest of Brennan, 75, for allegedly raping an altar boy between 1998 and 2001, while he was assistant pastor at Resurrection of Our Lord parish in Rhawnhurst.

The charges came about after a 26-year-old man reportedly encouraged by last year’s trial of Msgr. William J. Lynn – the first Catholic church official convicted for a supervisory role in covering up the conduct of pedophile priests – contacted archdiocesan officials in January.

That same day, Williams said, church officials called his office and relayed the man’s allegation: Brennan sexually abused him from ages 11 to 14, within the statute of limitations.

Williams said Brennan was arrested late Wednesday at the private home in Perryville, Md., where he has lived for much of the last eight years.

Brennan was being held Thursday in Cecil County, Md., awaiting extradition to Philadelphia. When he returns, he will be charged with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and aggravated indecent assault, Williams said.