STOCKTON (CA)
California Catholic Daily
The Diocese of Stockton has settled a sexual abuse lawsuit for $3.75 million after the priest involved — whom the bishop previously said he believed to be innocent — fled the country.
On April 6, a San Joaquin County Superior Court jury found Fr. Michael Kelly, 62, liable for damages in a civil suit filed against him alleging he sexually molested a former altar boy in the mid-1980s at the Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton.
A second phase of the trial — in which Fr. Kelly was expected to be a key witness — had been scheduled to begin on April 16, but Fr. Kelly left the country the day before for his native Ireland, leaving behind a letter for Stockton Bishop Stephen Blaire explaining why. The second phase was scheduled to assess whether the diocese was financially responsible for Fr. Kelly’s alleged misconduct.
As a consequence of Fr. Kelly’s departure, the trial had to be postponed. In the interim, the diocese and the plaintiff reached an out-of-court settlement.
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