IRELAND
Irish Central
By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, April 18, 2012, 7:22 AM
An Irish priest found guilty of child abuse in California has fled home to his family in Ireland – and continued to plead his innocence.
Fr Michael Kelly has absconded after a civil jury in Stockton, Southern California, ruled that he had molested a young boy.
Bishop of Stockton Stephen Blaire has now appealed to the Tipperary native to return to America and ‘see his trial through’.
The Stockton jury ruled unanimously that an unnamed man was molested by Fr Kelly when he was a boy.
The 62-year-old priest was immediately removed from his ministry but denied the allegations while admitting that the jury verdict had to be ‘respected’.
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