Third Lawsuit Filed Against Diocese of Stockton and Father Michael Kelly
Posted on November 8, 2012 | California,Child Abuse,Child Molestation,Church,clergy sexual abuse,Firm News,Lewd acts,Molestation,Pedophile,Sex Offender,Sexual Abuse,Sexual Molestation
A lawsuit was filed against Father Michael Kelly and the Diocese of Stockton on Wednesday, November 7, 2012. This is the third lawsuit against the Diocese and Father Kelly. The first case, filed by Travis Trotter, settled for $3.75 million in April of this year. Father Kelly fled to his native Ireland halfway through the trial, after the jury uanimously found that Father Kelly had sexually molested the plaintiff as a child. The second lawsuit was filed on September 11th of this year.
The newest suit alleges that Father Kelly had a history of pedophilic acts, and that the Diocese of Stockton was well aware of them, but did nothing to prevent Father Kelly from having access to children. Indeed, the suit alleges that the Diocese of Stockton, led by Bishop Stephen Blaire, sent Father Kelly for a psychological evaluation in 1999, and a psychologist said in a report, “I do not believe that we are able to rule out the possibility that some underlying or latent pedophilic elements may exist in this case.”
The suit alleges that Father Kelly would eventually go on sexually molest the plaintiff in the early 2000s. Police are investigating the allegations.
For more information, and the whole story, visit any of the following sites:
https://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121108/A_NEWS/211080325&cid=sitesearch
https://www.mymotherlode.com/news/local/67022/lawsuit-diocese-stockton.html