KALAMAZOO (MI)
The Herald-Palladium [St. Joseph MI]
May 30, 2024
By Julie Swidwa
A Catholic priest who was charged in May 2019 with two counts of rape is believed to have died.
A spokesperson for the Michigan Attorney General’s Office said the office is still working to confirm the death of Jacob Vellian, a priest from India who worked at the St. John the Evangelist Parish in Benton Harbor, where he allegedly raped a girl.
The Attorney General’s Office last week released an extensive report on a number of allegations in the Kalamazoo Diocese. The report stated Vellian is believed to have died while awaiting extradition to Berrien County, Mich., from India. The AG’s office said it was notified in November 2023 of Vellian’s likely death, and is working to confirm that information.
Another priest in the Kalamazoo Diocese – Brian Stanley – was previously convicted and sentenced. Brian Stanley, a priest at St. Margaret’s Catholic Church in Otsego, was sentenced in January 2020 to 60 days in jail and five years probation for attempted false imprisonment, the AG’s office stated in its recent report.
Stanley pleaded guilty in January 2020 to immobilizing a teenage boy by wrapping him tightly in plastic wrap and using making tape as an additional binding to cover the child’s eyes and mouth, leaving him bound and alone in a janitor’s room for an extended period of time before eventually returning and letting him go.
Vellian was a visiting priest in Benton Harbor more than 40 years ago.
At age 84, he was charged with raping a then 15-year-old parishioner who was a volunteer administrative assistance in the rectory at what was then St. John the Evangelist Church on Columbia Avenue.
He faced any number of years up to life in prison if convicted. He was living in Kerala, India, when he was charged, and was awaiting extradition to Michigan to face charges in Berrien County Trial Court, according to the AG’s office.
According to charging documents in the case, about a month after the 15-year-old female began volunteering at the rectory, Vellian allegedly began to compliment her, provide gifts, and rub her neck and shoulders.
The girl told police the priest touched her breasts, told her he was praying for her and “trying to fill (her) soul with the Holy Spirit.” The molestation continued and escalated into rape, the complaint alleged.
The girl reported the alleged abuse and the Benton Harbor police, along with the Diocese of Kalamazoo, reviewed the complaint and found the report to be credible, according to court documents.
Contact: jswidwa@TheHP.com, 932-0359, Twitter: @HPSwidwa
Julie Swidwa