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  Ex-Priest Could Be Forced to Register

By Tom O'Neill
The Cincinnati Post [Ohio]
September 16, 2006

http://news.kypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060916/NEWS02/609160351/1014

The Hamilton County prosecutor's office on Friday filed for a declaratory judgment that would require a former Catholic priest - who was never charged with sexual abuse - to nonetheless register as a sex offender.

A new Ohio law permits that in cases in which an allegation is reported after the statute of limitations expires.

Authorities say David J. Kelley, a one-time priest at Little Flower Catholic Church in the Cincinnati suburb of Mount Airy, sexually abused a male student at the grade school there in the early 1980s. Criminal charges were not filed against him because of the statute of limitations.

A new Ohio law allowing for such declaratory judgments went into effect Aug. 3, and the prosecutor's office said it is believed to be the first time the law has been invoked.

If a judge agrees that Kelly would have been liable for assault and battery based on the allegations, he would have to register with the Ohio Attorney General's Internet Civil Registry.

Kelley also would have to register his address with the Hamilton County Sheriff's office and would not be able to live within 1,000 feet of a school.

Failure to comply with a judge's order to register is a fifth-degree felony.

"Even if the criminal prosecution is barred by the statue of limitations, we will pursue this new type of civil action," Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said in a statement.

"People will have the ability to discover if a sex offender is living in their neighborhood, even if they could not be prosecuted due to this technicality."

Kelley is currently living in Nashville, Tenn.

 
 

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