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| Diocese: Priest in Middle of Suit Flees Country
KCRA
April 16, 2012
http://www.kcra.com/r/30902969/detail.html
[with video]
STOCKTON, Calif. (KCRA) -- A priest in a middle of a civil suit in an alleged molestation of a boy in the 1980, has fled the country, the Diocese of Stockton said Monday.
"This afternoon, I was stunned to receive a letter from Fr. Michael Kelly informing me he had returned to Ireland," Stephen E. Blaire of the diocese said in news release.
In the letter, Kelley told Blaire that by the time he read the letter, he'd be with his family in Ireland.
"I am sorry for any difficulty this may cause the Diocese, but my health can't take it anymore," Kelly wrote in the letter, according to the diocese.
"I was stunned ... "
- Stephen E. Blaire
"I have sat back and listened to the vicious false allegations that have been spread about me for the past 4½ years, and my health has suffered greatly because of it," he wrote.
Kelly allegedly molested a child while serving at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton.
The abuse supposedly occurred between 1984 and 1986.
"I have lost everything I worked for because of these false allegations. I am mentally and physically spent," Kelly writes.
About two weeks ago, a civil jury found Kelly liable of sexual abuse and the Diocese responded by removing him from the ministry. That civil trial is ongoing.
Kelly is also facing a criminal investigation in Calaveras County on separate allegations of abuse.
Kelly had most recently been pastor of St. Joachim's Catholic Church in Lockeford since 2004.
"It's not surprising. It's certainly disappointing. There is a long history of priests fleeing justice," said attorney Joseph George Jr. George said his office has represented more than 100 victim's of abuse at the hands of Catholic priests.
"This is another example of what a Diocese can do and chooses not to do. The Diocese has the power to control Father Kelly," George said.
Beth Hassett serves as a victim's rights advocate as the executive director of WEAVE. She said Kelly's actions further hurt the victim.
"To have gotten this far along in the process and to have been villainized by the community, that just must be devastating," Hassett said.
She said she hopes the courts force Kelly to return. George said he doubts that will happen unless Calaveras County decides to press criminal charges or the Diocese successfully compels him to return.
"We are trying to hold someone accountable, and then, off he flees. We as a society have done a pretty poor job of holding perpetrators accountable," Hassett said.
Many of the people at St. Joachim's Catholic Church have been supportive of Kelly and have said they believe he is innocent.
In a statement, the Diocese said it is stunned by Kelly's departure. The Diocese said they have tried to reach Kelly to ask him to return.
The attorney respresenting the victim in the civil case said he plans to address the issue in court Tuesday.
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