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Ex-Pine Bush priest in alleged sex-abuse case rips archdiocese’s inner politics
By Amanda Spadaro
HAMLET OF WALLKILL - Former priest Kevin Gallagher knows he betrayed his parishioners and violated his vows. Was it wrong to have sex with a young man? Yes, he says. Should that have disqualified him from remaining a priest? He doesn’t think so. In March, Gallagher, 65, was officially laicized, or removed from the clergy. He had been suspended from serving as a priest since January 2015. In 2009, he was the pastor of Pine Bush’s Church of the Infant Saviour. He first met Michael Kyles when he led the funeral service for Kyles’ twin brother, Tyler. Kyles claims that in 2012, Gallagher gave him money to buy heroin - a drug habit he developed after his twin’s death - and sexually abused him. Gallagher said he never saw Kyles again until 2013, when a mutual friend reintroduced the two. Almost immediately, Kyles began borrowing money, Gallagher said. Kyles admitted that he knew he could get money from the priest, based on a tip from a fellow addict who knew Gallagher. Gallagher said he gave Kyles money on multiple occasions for rent, car parts and other family needs, totaling approximately $800. He never knew it was being used to support Kyles’ heroin addiction, he said. Kyles still insists Gallagher knew the money was for drugs. Gallagher claims the encounters turned sexual, starting with shoulder massages and leading to oral sex that he said was consensual. Nothing about the sex was consensual, according to Kyles, who believes that his addiction overpowered him, forcing him to accept the abuse. “No, I was under the influence of drugs,” Kyles said. “I was scared. I never thought in my life that I’d ever do something like that. It wasn’t consensual. I needed money.” Kyles said they had sex once, but Gallagher said it happened three times. ‘Sinful, yes. Crazy, no.’ Around June 2014, the Archdiocese of New York was notified of the alleged sexual abuse by a third party. Gallagher was sent to Saint Luke Institute, a hospital in Maryland used by the church to address mental health and sexual abuse issues. “I had sex with a consenting adult,” Gallagher said. “What’s crazy about that? Sinful, yes. Crazy, no.” Gallagher said he was told going to the hospital was “a hoop to jump through” to save his standing as a priest. Gallagher received a handwritten note from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, while at St. Luke’s in 2014 that made him believe he would remain a priest, he said. “Let’s save and strengthen your priesthood. Return home renewed and stronger,” the cardinal wrote. Six months later, in January 2015, he left the hospital and returned to Pine Bush. That month, he received a letter informing him he was suspended. In February, the church sent a letter to Gallagher’s parishioners: “The matter is still under investigation, and at least until the matter is resolved, which we hope will be soon, Father Gallagher will not be permitted to serve as a priest in this archdiocese or anywhere else.” Investigation and laicization When a priest has consensual sex with an adult, there is “no blanket rule” on how to handle the situation, according to Joe Zwilling, director of communications for the archdiocese. While having sex with a consenting adult would not be illegal, it is a violation of the vows priests take. Kyles denied that the sex was consensual. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office conducted an investigation that resulted in no charges. Internally, the Archdiocesan Review Board conducted a review, but the board has limited jurisdiction, Zwilling said. “They do not have jurisdiction with cases over adults,” he said. “They deal with cases of abuse of minors and vulnerable adults, adults who may not be able to make informed decisions.” Zwilling declined to say why the board reviewed this case or if Kyles was considered a vulnerable adult. Gallagher believes the board should have recused itself from his case because it lacked jurisdiction. That’s why he declined an opportunity to speak before the review board, he said. In September 2015, Cardinal Dolan sent Gallagher another letter: “The Archdiocesan Review Board has considered carefully your situation, studying your own written report as well, and has recommended that you not return to active ministry in the archdiocese.” “I accept their recommendation,” the cardinal wrote. Although some priests are “defrocked,” a forced laicization, Gallagher voluntarily stepped down, which was required for him to receive severance pay from the church, he said. Zwilling said he could not say if the church would’ve defrocked Gallagher had he not applied for laicization. Gallagher, having entered the seminary at 42 and being ordained at 48, served as a priest for 17 years when his laicization was approved by the Vatican in March. Gallagher said he received “capital punishment for a Class-A misdemeanor.” Zwilling disagreed. “I would reject that charge,” he said. “If somebody is going to classify that as a Class-A misdemeanor, that person is not in touch with reality.” Kyles, now 24, said he has forgiven Gallagher. He is now married and has a son. He’s been clean for three years, he said. Knowing that Gallagher will never again be a priest brings him a measure of peace. “I’m really happy that he’s not practicing priesthood,” Kyles said. “There’s always going to be somebody that abuses their position.” It’s important to Kyles that no other young people go through what he did, he said. “I forgive him with all of my heart and soul,” Kyles said. “I wish that he would just apologize to the people that he’s hurt. He doesn’t realize the gravity of the situation.” Cleaning house Gallagher said he made mistakes that he cannot fix. “I was tired, sick and lonely at that point. It’s not an excuse, but just an explanation,” Gallagher said. “I will live with the fact that I violated my priesthood, betrayed my priesthood. I hurt my parishioners ... I can’t undo that.” That said, Gallagher thinks the church must fix its internal politics and corruption. He wonders why he was removed from the ministry when other priests with worse offenses are simply transferred to another parish, he said. He said the archdiocese picks and chooses which infractions to punish, then cited a number of examples, including monsignors John Woolsey and James White. Woolsey, who died in 2016, was sentenced to prison in 2006 after stealing more than $800,000 from the St. John the Martyr parish in Manhattan. According to “Catholic New York,” Woolsey was reassigned to Larchmont and New Rochelle after his release from prison. White was a priest in the Bronx in 1998 when he was charged with possession of a controlled substance after police found him with cocaine, according to The New York Times. White now serves as the pastor of St. Vito’s parish in Mamaroneck. Zwilling said that Gallagher’s case is “fundamentally different” from Woolsey’s and White’s. “Both of those individuals were charged with crimes, accepted their punishment, received help, and were able to return to ministry,” he said in an email. “Neither of those cases involved what Mr. Gallagher was accused of doing ...” Although he is no longer a priest, Gallagher wants to see the Archdiocese of New York returned to its glory - of honesty and goodness, he said. “I never, ever will turn my back on the church. God gave us the church, and I just don’t like to see the way people have screwed it up,” he said.
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