BishopAccountability.org
	Priestly Troubles Continue Tracy Press April 1, 2008 http://tracypress.com/content/view/14119/2242/ A former St. Bernard's priest accused of sexual abuse and reinstated by the Stockton Diocese has been charged in a lawsuit by his alleged victim. STOCKTON — A lawsuit alleges that in the 1980s, the Rev. Michael Kelly, the parish priest in Lockeford who served many years at St. Bernard's Catholic Church in Tracy, abused a young boy who is now serving with the U.S. military. The suit, filed in San Joaquin County Superior Court last week, alleges the abuse began when the boy was 7 and lasted until he was 11, during a period from 1982 to 1985. Kelly was a priest at Stockton's Cathedral of the Annunciation at the time. The Stockton Diocese recently reinstated Kelly to his post in Lockeford after a diocese investigation found no evidence of the alleged abuse. Vince Finaldi, an attorney with the firm that filed the lawsuit, Newport Beach-based Manly and Stewart, said it was "reprehensible" that the church would allow Kelly to rejoin his parish. "We're just dumbfounded why the diocese, and specifically the bishop, Stephen Blaire, would reinstate this person without a full investigation," Finaldi said Friday. Finaldi said the diocese never contacted his law firm or the plaintiff in its investigation. The diocese placed Kelly on paid administrative leave in October 2007 after it learned of the abuse allegations. On March 14, Blaire released a statement saying the matter was "investigated as thoroughly as possible," and no evidence of abuse could be found. Blaire said the diocese tried to speak to the plaintiff and to a third party who initially called the diocese's attention to the abuse complaints. Kelly has since conducted Mass at St. Joachim Catholic Church in Lockeford. Blaire's statement also said the diocese received hundreds of letters in support of Kelly. Finaldi said that while Kelly was at the Cathedral of the Annunciation Parish in Stockton, he befriended the parents of the alleged victim. The parents let Kelly babysit their child, and that's when the abuse took place, Finaldi said. The alleged abuse ranged from groping to sodomy. The plaintiff claims he suffers from intense psychological and emotional problems as a result and has a hard time trusting others. The suit seeks unspecified damages.
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