Statements Of John C. Manly, Vince Finaldi, Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, On The Indictment Of Fr. Michael Kelly, By The Calaveras County Grand Jury For Sexual Molestation Of A Child

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Jan 14, 2014, 07:36 ET

STOCKTON, Calif., Jan. 14, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Yesterday, a Grand Jury convened by the Calaveras County District Attorney's Office indicted Diocese of Stockton Priest Fr. Michael Kelly, on numerous criminal counts related to brutal childhood sexual abuse in the year 2000 while serving as the Pastor of St. Andreas Parish in the Diocese of Stockton.

Fr. Kelly absconded to Ireland in 2012, in the middle of a child molestation trial being prosecuted by this firm on behalf of another Kelly victim, only days after he was unanimously found by a jury to have raped and molested our client, a highly decorated Air Force Officer, when he was in 4^th grade at Annunciation School in Stockton. Kelly is known to be in Ireland, but guards his location and has repeatedly taken steps to avoid service of process.

Our firm, and our clients, are gratified by this indictment, and are very grateful to the Grand Jury and law enforcement officials in Calaveras County who worked tirelessly for justice on behalf of the victim in the indictment and the numerous other victims of Fr. Kelly.

Today, we call on Bishop Blaire, the Diocese of Stockton, and Monsignor Richard Ryan, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Stockton, a seminary classmate and lifelong friend of Michael Kelly, to disclose Kelly's whereabouts to the Calaveras County Sheriff's Office. Moreover, we call on the Holy See and the Irish Bishops to effectively issue a clerical "all point's bulletin" to all Dioceses and Parishes in Ireland requiring the clergy there disclose Kelly's whereabouts to US law enforcement officials immediately. We believe Kelly is being protected by clergy in Ireland and his whereabouts are known to them.

There are really two perpetrators in every case involving Fr. Michael Kelly. There is Fr. Kelly and the Bishops of Stockton, including Roger Mahony and Bishop Stephen Blaire, who protected him. Indeed, Bishop Blaire and Monsignor Ryan's depositions are scheduled for next week. We learned on the day Fr. Kelly was indicted that they now plan to file bankruptcy only days before their depositions are scheduled. The bankruptcy filing automatically stays discovery in a civil case. It is clear that the Diocese is filing bankruptcy not because it does not have the money to pay a judgment or settlement in the three cases pending against it, but rather, to prevent the truth about the complicity of Bishop Blaire and Monsignor Ryan and other Diocese's members in Kelly's crimes. It is a misuse of the process and cowardly.

SOURCE Manly, Stewart & Finaldi