CLINTON TOWNSHIP (MI)
Macomb Daily
July 30,2019
By Jameson Cook
A former priest at a Shelby Township church accused of sexually assaulting a boy in the mid-1980s was arrested around that time for distributing and possessing cocaine.
Neil Kalina, 63, dressed in jail garb, appeared in 41A District Court in Shelby Township on Monday for a hearing on charges he assaulted a boy when he was 12 to 14 at St. Kieran Catholic Church.
He was among five priests charged in May for sexual-conduct allegations while serving at churches in Michigan as part of a special investigation under Attorney General Dana Nessel. Four of them were residing out of state.
Kalina is charged with four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and lifetime electronic monitoring.
He and the boy spent time together while Kalina was a pastor at Kieran during the mid-1980s, according to a sworn statement by Michigan State Police Detective Sgt. Rick Lutz. Kalina allegedly provided the boy with alcohol, marijuana and cocaine, and the boy awoke to Kalina fondling him during overnight stays at the St. Kieran rectory, the affidavit says.
Kalina’s accuser attended Monday’s hearing.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.