Lodi News-Sentinel
March 15, 2008
http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2008/03/15/news/3_kelly_080315.txt
Father Michael Kelly has been reinstated to his post as priest at St. Joachim Catholic Church in Lockeford after an investigation by the Stockton Diocese found no evidence of sexual abuse by Kelly.
Kelly had been on paid administrative leave since October 2007, when a 33-year-old man claimed he had been abused by Kelly sometime between 1984 and 1986.
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| Michael Kelly |
In a statement released Friday, Stockton Bishop Stephen Blaire said the diocese "investigated as thoroughly as possible" but found no evidence to support the abuse claim.
The attorney representing the alleged victim, however, is not backing down from those claims and questioned the thoroughness of the church's investigation.
"If people believe Bishop Blaire is qualified to investigate sex abuse, then they would probably believe Saddam Hussein is qualified to investigate sex abuse," said Attorney John Manley.
Blaire said the diocese tried to speak to the person who claimed to have been abused as well as a third party who initially brought the claim to the diocese's attention.
"A professional investigator was engaged by the diocese," Blaire said in his statement. "His investigation did not reveal any evidence of sexual abuse on the part of Father Kelly."
When news of the allegation first broke, Kelly's attorney, Al Ellis, said it was the victim's father who first approached the diocese. Ellis said the father claimed his son had been abused at the age of 10, when the child was a member of Church of the Annunciation in Stockton.
John Manly, the Orange County attorney representing the alleged victim, said the diocese's investigation was a sham.
He said church officials never contacted him and added that they received a detailed statement from the victim's father.
Manly has yet to file a lawsuit against the diocese but said he and his client are not backing down from a legal fight, saying the diocese essentially "rolled the dice" in reinstating Kelly to his post at the Lockeford church.
"Good luck," Manly said. "They've been up against me before."
Kelly joined the Lockeford parish in 2004. He came to Lockeford after serving at parishes in Stockton, San Andreas, Sonora and Ceres.
Blaire said the decision to reinstate Kelly came after a discussion with the Diocesan Review Board.
"I received hundreds of letters in support of Father Kelly, most of them quite anxious that he be returned quickly to ministry."
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