>>> good evening. brian is off tonight. i'm lester holt . as we await a verdict from a pennsylvania jury in the child sexual abuse case against jerry sandusky , not far away in philadelphia a catholic monsignor today became the highest ranking church official yet to be convicted of covering up the molestation of a child by a priest. monsignor william lind oversaw hundreds of priests in the nation's sixth largest diocese and was convicted of endangering a child not by his own hand but by allowing a pedophile priest to be in a position to molest a young boy . it's a case that cuts to the heart of what many see as the most shameful part of a long-running catholic priest sexual abuse scandal. church leaders who look the other way.
>> reporter: in a scandal where so many knew so much but did so little to protect children, monsignor william lind is the first senior catholic church official to be convicted of not doing enough. while acquitting him of conspiracy, the jury found lind guilty of one count of endangering a child, an altar boy who was assaulted by a priest, lind knew was a pedophile.
>> he was really upset. he's upset. he's crushed. he's in custody and he didn't want anything other than to help kids. he's crushed about this.
>> reporter: lind was never accused of physically harming a child himself. he was investigating abuse complaints and prosecutors said he played them down and sent known predators to unsuspecting parishes.
>> there is no verdict that could fix the harm done to the victims of adult predators within the church. there is no apology that can heal the wounds these children suffer.
>> reporter: it took the jury 13 days to reach a decision. in a trial so highly charged that before it even began the district attorney ordered an autopsy on cardinal anthony bevoloka lind 's boss. he died one day after he was ordered to testify at the trial. earlier this week the jury told the judge they were dead locked, but the judge sent them back.
>> we all wanted justice. none of us went off of our feelings. none of us went off of our religion.
>> reporter: for an abuse survivors group this verdict goes beyond the church sending a clear signal to all institutions, protect kids, oust predators, or go to jail. lind 's conviction is the latest trauma for philadelphia 's 1.5 million catholics. the archdiocese already struggling with a $17 million deficit.
>> the jury has spoken and i hope we can move on now and start to heal.
>> reporter: the jury in philadelphia did not accept monsignor lind 's explanation that he did the best he could but did not have ultimate authority. as one observer puts it today's verdict is a hard wakeup call for the church and its bishops that they cannot look the other way on clergy abuse. lester?