Alleged Second Sex Abuse Victim's Testimony Not Allowed

By Jennie Rodriguez-Moore
The Record
March 24, 2012

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120324/A_NEWS/203240320/-1/A_NEWS02

Testimony from an alleged second sex abuse victim of the Rev. Michael Kelly will not be allowed in the civil jury trial where a former Catholic altar boy has accused the priest of molesting him.

San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Bob McNatt decided late Thursday that the second person's story will not be admitted to avoid prejudice.

Kelly, currently pastor at St. Joachim's Church in Lockeford, is under criminal investigation over the second person's claims.

Kelly resumed his leadership role at the church after passing polygraph tests.

Courtroom testimony continued Friday with expert witnesses on the stand, who disagreed on the validity of the plaintiff's recovered repressed memories of sexual assaults.

The plaintiff, referred to in court documents as John TZ Doe, says he had no memory of being molested by Kelly on various occasions and being molested in a wooded area until 2006 - more than 20 years after he said the molestations occurred.

Fragmented memories steadily surfaced, and he recalled vivid details that he has described in court.

The defense's expert witness, Harvard University psychology Professor Dr. J. Alexander Bodkin, testified that the memories are false and that repressed memory phenomenon has yet to be legitimized in the psychiatry field.

Bodkin attributed the plaintiff's claims to obsessive compulsive disorder, saying he has tendencies that include frequent hand-washing and showering.

But the plaintiff's attorneys say Bodkin's diagnosis is incorrect.

John TZ Doe is a former U.S. military man who trained in dirty terrain.

He showers about three times a day because he often runs and works out, said Vince Finaldi, a Newport Beach attorney.

On Friday, Finaldi called his own expert witness, Bay Area forensic psychiatrist Anlee Kuo.

Kuo said the plaintiff's vivid memories are real, and according to the results of several psychiatric tests, he is not being deceitful.

Kuo said the plaintiff has not undergone any suggestive therapy that may have implanted the memories. She said tests reveal that he suffered from anxiety, major depression and post traumatic stress disorder as a result of remembering the sexual abuse.

Contact reporter Jennie Rodriguez-Moore at (209) 943-8564 or jrodriguez@recordnet.com Visit her blog at recordnet.com/courtsblog.