the jury acquitted william lynch in the assault of jerrold lin. here's 7 news reporter lisa. [applause]. >>reporter: will lynch is smiling and triumphant as he leaves the hall of justice in san jose. for the first time in decades the 44-year-old feels justice has been served. you can see his relief in the photo as the verdict came down. jury acquitted lynch of felony assault and elderly abuse for beating up father jerry lin the jesuit priest accused of raping lynch 35 years aichlingt i definitely want to be free of this completely. this has gonna long way in getting ther there. >>reporter: prosecutor call it a advantage land tee attack leaving the priest bloody and bruised. even though they had no doubt that lynch was molested they say this was not the way to happen it. >> just punishment is delivered to our justice system l not through the acts of one traumatized and troubled man. >>reporter: defense argued until now the system failed lynch and protected the priest never prosecuted because of statute of limitation ran out. >> statute had gone by. jesuit are protecting the gu

the jury acquitted william lynch in the assault of jerrold lin. here's 7 news reporter lisa. [applause]. >>reporter: will lynch is smiling and triumphant as he leaves the hall of justice in san jose. for the first time in decades the 44-year-old feels justice has been served. you can see his relief in the photo as the verdict came down. jury acquitted lynch of felony assault and elderly abuse for beating up father jerry lin the jesuit priest accused of raping lynch 35 years aichlingt i definitely want to be free of this completely. this has gonna long way in getting ther there. >>reporter: prosecutor call it a advantage land tee attack leaving the priest bloody and bruised. even though they had no doubt that lynch was molested they say this was not the way to happen it. >> just punishment is delivered to our justice system l not through the acts of one traumatized and troubled man. >>reporter: defense argued until now the system failed lynch and protected the priest never prosecuted because of statute of limitation ran out. >> statute had gone by. jesuit are protecting the gu

the jury acquitted william lynch in the assault of jerrold lin. here's 7 news reporter lisa.ling and triumphant as he leaves the hall of justice in san jose. for the first time in decades the 44-year-old feels justice has been served. you can see his relief in the photo as the verdict came down. jury acquitted lynch of felony assault and elderly abuse for beating up father jerry lin the jesuit priest accused of raping lynch 35 years aichlingt i definitely want to be free ofths gonna long way in getting ther there. >>reporter: prosecutor call it a advantage land tee attack leaving the priest bloody and bruised. even though they had no doubt that lynch was molested they say this was not the way to happen it. >> just punishment is delivered to our justice system l not through the acts of one traumatized and troubled man. >>reporter: defense argued until now the system failed lynch and protected the priest never prosecuted because of statute of ran out.imitation ra. >> statute. jesuit gone by. jt are protecting the guy. it just seems so wrong. >>reporter: california province jesu

william lynch faces felony charges of assault elderly abuse against jerrold lin. others who accused the catholic church of abuse rallying outside the courthouse demand ago verdict of not guilty. >> there's a greater criminal here and that's father jerry lin and he need to be convicte convicted. he's never been convicted. he's never even been accused in a criminal court. of any of these rapes or molestation of children. >>reporter: defense attorney claim that lynch did not intend to attack lin when he confronted the retired priest 2 years ago. prosecutors call lynch a vigilante and said he took part in selfish act of revenge. lynch could face up to 4 years in convicted. >> state senate has approved a bill allowing children to have more than 2 legal parents or guardian sponsored by san francisco democrat leno allow as judge to recognize multiple parents if that's what is best for the child. each would have to meet existing legal requirements for guardianship. he says surrogate birth and same sex parenthood create new consequences when non-traditional relationship en

william lynch faces felony charges of assault elderly abuse against jerrold lin.cused the catholic church of abuse rallying outside the courthouse demand ago verdict of not guilty. >> there's a greater criminal here and that's father jerry lin and he need to be convicte convicted. he's never been convicted. he's never even been accused in a criminal court. of any of these rapes or molestation of children. >>reporter: defense attorney claim that lynch did not intend to attack lin when he confronted the retired priest 2 years ago. prosecutors call lynch a vigilante and said he took part in selfish act of revenge. lynch could face up to 4 years in convicted. >> state senate has approved a bill allowing children to have more than 2 legal parents or guardian sponsored by san francisco democrat leno allow as judge to recognize multiple parents if that's what is best for the child. each would have to meet existing legal requirements for guardianship. he says surrogate birth and same sex parenthood create new consequences when non-traditional relationship end or are in cr

william lynch faces felony charges of assault elderly abuse against jerrold lin. others who accused the catholic church of abuse rallying outside the courthouse demand ago verdict of not guilty. >> there's a greater criminal here and that's father jerry lin and he need to be convicte convicted. he's never been convicted. he's never even been accused in a criminal court. of any of these rapes or molestation of children. >>reporter: defense attorney claim that lynch did not intend to attack lin when he confronted the retired priest 2 years ago. prosecutors call lynch a vigilante and said he took part in selfish act of revenge. lynch could face up to 4 years in convicted. >> state senate has approved a bill allowing children to have more than 2 legal parents or guardian sponsored by san francisco democrat leno allow as judge to recognize multiple parents if that's what is best for the child. each would have to meet existing legal requirements for guardianship. he says surrogate birth and same sex parenthood create new consequences when non-traditional relationship en

he's accused of attacking former priest jerrold lin 2 years ago. lynch attorney don't deny the attack but say lynch was over charged. >> we hope the jury will understand that this is way over charged. that there was no great bodily injury. in fact, lynn lucky he walked away with nothing but a cut. >> deputy district attorney says it was a selfish act of revenge and vicinity atlantae must not be allowed in a democratic societyism the fact that the victim did something horrific to the defendant years ago doesn't give the defendant the right to go out and commit a crime. once again you can't take the law that your own hands. >>reporter: the judge instructed jury's not to allow sympathy to sway their decision in what has been a very emotional trial. conviction could send lynch to prison for 4 years. >>> tonight pg&e revealing a disturbing finding. more than 200 gas transmission pipes are at risk of exploding. pg&e report identifies 500 trouble spots of the sort that led to the san bruno disaster. mark matthews has the story. >> pipe that blew newspaper