The man beat a priest, prosecutors say. But the priest beat him -- sexually and mentally -- for decades prior.
Will Lynch is the San Francisco man who stands accused of assaulting Rev. Jerold Lindner, a Catholic priest living at the Sacred Heart retirement home in Los Gatos, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
Lynch, 44, does not deny punching Lindner -- but says he did it because Lindner "leered" at him in the same way he did when Lindner allegedly molested Lynch and his brother when they were children in the 1970s, the newspaper reported.
Lynch says Lindner raped him and made him have oral sex with his brother when the brothers were 4 and 7 years old, the newspaper reported. The Jesuits, the religious order of which Lindner is a member, paid the brothers $187,000 to settle legal fees without admitting wrongdoing.
Lindner is a registered child molester in Los Gatos, the newspaper reported.
"The deplorable truth is Jerold Lindner committed rape, forcible sodomy and made threats to his (Lynch's) life and his family," said Paul A. Mones, one of Lynch's attorneys.
Prosecutors say they are trying to hold Lynch responsible for his actions, and that "two wrongs do not make a right."
Lynch could be sentenced to up to four years in prison for felony assault.
