PHILADELPHIA — An Episcopal Church panel announced this week that it had upheld its decision to defrock a bishop from Pennsylvania for covering up his brother's sexual assaults of a teenage girl in the 1970s.

The special Court for the Trial of a Bishop rejected a request by Charles E. Bennison Jr. to reduce the sentence, but added that his ouster "does not alter the church's deep and abiding compassion" for him. The nine-person panel of bishops, priests and church members said it hoped the ruling would allow Bennison to seek "reconciliation and peace."

After a four-day trial in June, the panel found Bennison guilty of two counts of "conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy."

In October, it unanimously chose the harshest sentence for Bennison, who was bishop of the nation's fifth-largest Episcopal diocese for a decade. He could have faced a reprimand or a temporary suspension of his duties.

The victim, now in her early 50s, testified Bennison knew of the sexual contact between her and his married brother, John Bennison, beginning when she was 14 and continuing for more than four years.