Statement by Joelle Casteix of Newport Beach, SNAP Western Regional Director, 949-322-7434, jcasteix@gmail.com
We are saddened and disturbed to learn that despite a second allegation of abuse by Fr. Michael Kelly, Stockton Diocese officials still refuse to remove him from active ministry with children and families. Despite years of telling Catholics about child safety “reforms,” Stockton Bishop Blaire still cannot do the one easy and simple thing to keep kids safe. Our biggest fear is for the children who may have been put at direct risk of abuse after Kelly was reinstated into active ministry in 2008, despite the first credible child sex abuse allegation against him. We urge law enforcement to vigorously investigate and punish church employees who hurt kids or put them at risk.
If you have any information about child abuse by Fr. Kelly or any adult, please contact law enforcement and support groups like ours, NOT church officials.
We also urge Stockton Catholics to demand that Bishop Blaire adhere to his own child safety policies and the policies of his fellow bishops and immediately remove Kelly from active ministry until law enforcement can investigate the latest allegations.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 23 years and have more than 10,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contact – David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, SNAPblaine@ gmail.com), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)
http://www.news10.net/news/article/156666/2/New-accusation-arise-against-Lockeford-priest
SACRAMENTO, CA – New allegations have come to light against a Lockeford priest.
The accusations against Father Michael Kelly were not specified in a statement release by Bishop Stephen Blaire.
Kelly was previously accused of molesting a child back in 1984. The accusations came to light in September 2007.
Stockton police and the dioceses tried to investigate the claim, but the alleged victim did not cooperate. With no evidence, Kelly was reinstated in March 2008.
Kelly will remain an active priest while the church investigates the claim, Blaire said. The Calaveras County Sheriff’s Department is also investigating the claim.
What makes you so sure that kelly did not do these things? Just because he’s a priest doesn’t make him any different from a regular person. I also was a Catholic at one time and there was a priest in the church I attended that was always putting his hands on our bottoms. How would you like your kids touched where they shouldn’t be touched? Sometime we try and close or eyes to the things that these men do because they are called “PRIEST.”
The Roman Catholic priesthood is a network of double lives that involve sex crimes, sexual intrigue, internal blackmail and extortion. How can our children ever be safe in an organization that preaches strict sexual standards but allows its administrative staff to live just the opposite in an atmosphere of strict secrecy?
Joelle
Have you ever met Father Michael Kelly? Do you know him as a PERSON? Probably NOT !!!!! Because if you did you would know these allegations are baseless. We have know Father Mike for over 30 years. He is a part of our family. He has interacted with our children and grandchildren and NEVER once acted in a manner that is inappropriate. He is a very caring person. One to lean on in times of crisis as we have over those 30 years and the support he gives is indescribable. A hug from Father Mike is like a hug from God letting you know He will be with you. Before you post things about people you don’t know, find out about them and what a great person they are. I’m sure this will never see the light of day because all your comments are negative.
You see the clerical state through rose-colored glasses. It is the people like you that have indirectly and implicitly fostered this sexual abuse of minors and continues to be part of the problem rather than part of the solution. The priesthood makes a great hiding place for wierdo sexual abusers, and I would bet that your Fr. Mike is one of them!
So basically you are defending a disgusting old mad who has tricked little kids into letting him do horrible things to to them. They are going to grow up and have to deal with this for the rest of their lives and have nobody to trust because there are people like you. They will never be able to have a normal or stable relationship because of this.