Closing Arguments Today in Father Michael Kelly Civil Trial

Lodi News-Sentinel
April 5, 2012

http://www.lodinews.com/news/article_5269063c-d67f-5069-a463-8166c9fd697c.html

Closing arguments by attorneys in the sexual abuse case against Lockeford priest Michael Kelly will begin at 10 a.m. today in San Joaquin County Superior Court. Closing arguments are expected to last all day and possibly continue Friday morning.

Kelly, 62, pastor of St. Joachim's Catholic Church the past eight years, was sued by a 37-year-old Fairfax man who alleges that Kelly sexually assaulted him in the mid-1980s, when Kelly was a priest at Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton and the plaintiff was an altar boy there. Criminal charges have not been filed against Kelly.

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The plaintiff's name has not been disclosed because he is a potential sexual assault victim.

The jury will deliberate on the case once closing arguments are completed, which could come as early as Friday.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com