Man Beats Priest He Claims Molested Him 35 Years Ago 

A man was arrested in Santa Clara, Calif., on Friday on charges of attacking a
Jesuit priest who he says molested him and his brother 35 years ago.

Police were able to connect 43-year-old William Lynch to the May 10 attack on Jesuit priest Jerold Lindner by searching phone records, according to the Associated Press. Lynch posted $25,000 bail and will plead not guilty at an arraignment next month, according to his lawyer, Pat Harris.

Lynch is accused of confronting Father Lindner at the Jesuits’ Sacred Heart retirement home in Los Gatos, Calif., and repeatedly punching him in the face and body after the priest said he did not recognize him, said Sgt. Rick Sung, a spokesman for the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department.

Lynch and his younger brother settled with the Jesuits of the California Province, a Roman Catholic religious order, for $625,000 in 1998 after they accused Lindner of abusing them in 1975 during weekend camping trips.

Harris said Lynch and his brother, who were 7 and 5 at the time, were raped and forced to have oral sex with each other while Lindner watched.

Lindner, 65, has been accused of abuse by more than a dozen people, including his sister and nieces and nephews. He has previously denied abusing the boys and was not criminally charged because the alleged abuse fell outside the statute of limitations.

Lindner was removed from the ministry and placed at the Los Gatos retirement home in 2001.

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