The highest-ranking US church official to be convicted of covering up child sex allegations, Philadelphia Monsignor, William Lynn, was sentenced to three to six years in prison yesterday.

William Lynn, who was secretary of the archdiocese from 1994 to 2001 and tasked with investigating abuse claims, was found guilty last month of one count of child endangerment.

Lawyers had pushed for Lynn to be spared prison, but Judge Teresa Sarmina imposed close to the maximum sentence of three-and-a-half to seven years.

“It was three to six years,” an official at the court in Philadelphia told AFP by telephone, confirming the sentence.

Lynn, 61, who took the witness stand for three days during his 10-week trial, was not charged with molesting children, but rather with covering up the crimes of priests who did. The trial, the first in the US involving a senior official in the Catholic Church, also centred on two more Philadelphia priests.

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