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  Court Date Set for Charlotte Priest Accused of Sexual Abuse

By Tim Funk
Charlotte Observer
August 9 2010

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/08/09/1611366/court-date-set-in-kelleher-case.html

Kelleher

A Sept. 3 Superior Court date has been set for the Rev. Joseph Kelleher, a Roman Catholic priest who was indicted last week by a grand jury here on one count of taking indecent liberties with a child.

Kelleher, 82, is accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy in 1977 at Our Lady of the Annunciation Catholic Church, which is just down the street from the Stanly County Courthouse in Albemarle.

The Ireland-born Kelleher has also been put on administrative leave by the Diocese of Charlotte while its own investigation continues.

Though officially retired, Kelleher was serving as chaplain at Bishop McGuiness High School in Kernersville when he was arrested in July on the Albemarle charge.

The priest was assigned to two Catholic churches in Charlotte in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Last month, a one-time parishioner at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in east Charlotte came forward to allege that Kelleher had sexually abused him in the church rectory in 1981, when he was a 13-year-old boy.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are investigating, but have made no arrest in that case.

Kelleher has declined to comment on the accusations.

Contact: tfunk@charlotteobserver.com

 
 

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