Jury resumes deliberations in Philadelphia child sex abuse trial

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The jury in the child sex abuse trial of a Philadelphia Roman Catholic monsignor began an eleventh day of deliberations on Tuesday trying to reach a verdict in the case of the highest ranking U.S. church official to stand trial in a wide-ranging pedophilia scandal.

Monsignor William Lynn is accused of conspiracy and child endangerment. Prosecutors say that in his job overseeing hundreds of priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, Lynn, 61, covered up child sex abuse allegations, often by transferring priests to unsuspecting parishes.

Also on trial is the Reverend James Brennan, accused of child endangerment and attempted rape of a 14-year-old child in 1996.

The Common Pleas Court jury heard ten weeks of testimony and began deliberating on June 1.

Prosecutors say Lynn's motive was to avoid scandal and any potential loss of donations to the archdiocese, the nation's largest with 1.5 million members.

Lynn supervised 800 priests in the Philadelphia Archdiocese, including investigating sex abuse claims, from 1992 to 2004.

The defense said Lynn tried to handle documented cases of pedophile priests, making a list in 1994 of 35 accused predators and writing memos to suggest treatment and suspensions.

It said Lynn was hampered because he could only make recommendations to the head of the archdiocese, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, who died in January at age 88. (Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst)