Priest sentenced in AG’s clergy abuse investigation

Fox 17 News
November 20, 2019

https://bit.ly/2pCxOKz

One of six Catholic priests charged in an investigation by the attorney general’s office received his sentence Wednesday.

Patrick Casey, 56, will serve 45 days in jail, one year of probation and have to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to a charge of aggravated assault in October.

Charges came amid Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s investigation of clergy abuse. Prosecutors say Casey coerced a man who came to him for counseling into performing sexual acts in 2013, which was reported to the Archdiocese in Detroit in 2015.

He has been barred from priestly ministries while his case is under review at the Vatican.

Two priests from West Michigan have also been charged in the probe: Brian Stanley of Coloma and Jacob Vellian of Benton Harbor.

Stanley is charged with one count of false imprisonment for allegedly wrapping a teen boy in plastic wrap and holding him against his will in the janitor’s room at St. Margaret’s Church in 2013.

He is expected in court Wednesday, but a date for his trial has not yet been set.

Vellian, 84, is charged with raping a girl under the age of 16 while serving as a priest in Berrien County. He now lives in India, where prosecutors are pursuing his extradition to the U.S.