CALIFORNIA
Bilingual Weekly
Posted by Dennis Rocha ⋅ April 10, 2012
Stockton, CA — Father Michael Kelly, pastor of Saint Joachim’s Catholic Church in Lockeford, was found guilty of sexual assault on Friday, April 6th, by a civil jury following the charges of an altar boy in the 1980s.
“In light of this verdict, I have made the decision to remove Fr. Kelly from ministry, effective immediately,” said Dioceses of Stockton’s Bishop, Stephen Blaire, in a press release following the jury`s decision.
The plaintiff, a 37-year-old man, alleges that the priest sexually abused him back in the 80s when he was an altar boy at Cathedral of the Annunciation located in northern downtown Stockton.
In a call for solidarity towards their faith, “Kelly told the congregation not to blame Bishop Stephen Blaire for his removal because the church leader had no other choice.” The Lodi News Sentinel reported on Saturday, April 7th, that more than a hundred parishioners gathered at the Lockeford’s Catholic Church after the verdict.
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