CHARLESTON (SC)
WPDE - ABC 15 [Conway SC]
November 8, 2021
By Alexx Altman-Devilbiss
Myrtle Beach SC – lawsuit has been filed claiming a child was sexually abused by a priest at a Catholic church in Myrtle Beach.
According to the lawsuit filed by “John Doe,” Father Robert Kelly at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church groomed and sexually assaulted the child while he was an altar boy in the early 1990s.
Father Kelly died in 2004 and the lawsuit was filed against The Diocese of Charleston and The Bishop of the Diocese of Charleston.
The lawsuit claims the diocese was either aware or should have been aware, of various illicit and improper sexual relationships which Father Kelly maintained before coming to or during his time at the Charleston Diocese.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges the diocese allowed “predatory priests” to have unsupervised access to children and claimed Kelly likely groomed other children.
“All Defendants abused Plaintiff’s trust and innocence and caused him many types of injuries and damages, including severe pain, suffering, and mental anguish,” the lawsuit states.