California diocese to pay out $3.75 million in settlement for Irish priest

he didnt depart for Ireland as you so quaintly describe it,he did a RUNNER,did he think the american justice system is unfair?did he think his trial was unfair,he,s like that rich indian who wont face up to his trial in the place the alledged crime was committed,but pleads all sort of excuses instead of wishing to do everything in his power to bring the murderers of his young and lovely wife to justice,the vatican should make him return or defrock him.the uk should make the indian guy go back.running away makes you guilty.

The amount of the settlement was excessive and can only encourage more claims including false ones.

Guess who's being asked to pay the piper for the child sex abuse cases and the cover ups. The RCC hierarchy has a lot of nerve to ask its parishioners to foot the bill for their sins.

The dwindling and aging congregations of the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Churche (HRC&AC) should be informed that the two or three collections at every mass, in every parish, in every diocese, in every province, may be used to inadvertently subsidise clerical child sexual abuse.

DrMcHugh is absolutely right! Even Pope Benedict is hiding behind his position for the crimes he committed. I know for a fact that Fr. Kelly is a compulsive liar and always acts innocent in whatever he does. He lies so pervasively that he often forgets what he lied about. He is a backstabber and I have never met a bigger coward and backstabber. Don’t believe this man for he feigns serving God and most possessively but rather he has always served himself. No innocent man runs from his verdict only a guilty man. He is scared beyond belief and does not want to be exposed any further, that is why hides behind his high anxiety. He has no concerned for his victims. I hope he reads these comments and makes his first act of courage in his life and come back to face justice. That is asking for the impossible. Sorry Mike I am just fed up.

Katie -just to clue you in b4 you go off on another rant,repressed memory has to do with the victims memory who through a combination of shock,fear ,and self loathing forgets an event like molestation by a priest until it is triggered later in life by some event.

REpressed memory - just another dodge of the heirarchy of hte frankenstein castle locatred in Rome........They also said eg it happened in the boy scouts. what the hierarchy forgets to admit is that the BScouts dealt with it quickely while there is some evidence the molestation has been going on for centuries....................Most likely sianc e about 1200 or so (? 1000) when the church forebade priests to marry.

piliibo4 Dont worry -we all need to work to insure more of these types of cases are settled for high numbers. SNAP estimates that 10000 priests in the USA abused 100,000 kids......Work out the numbers assuming that 5000 kids got $2 million each (half / half) Thats 10 Billion. the ultiamte punishment for the 'church' of the endless hidden molestation of children..................... Zilch church and hierarchy in the unemployment lines discovering that they are not eleigicble, including I beleive SS benefits.

This is the same piece of garbage that the pious posters were jabbering about this past week. Almost $4 million is to be paid out for this priest-rapist. The only thing more disgusting than this priest is the bishop who hid him and the Church that continues to assist him.

Mercyneal-as written in these columns earlier in the week,it was described as repressed memory,if the other reports are true,jail the bastard.I am no longer RC as a result of this nonwithstanding.The higher ups are a very sorry lot!

I wanted to add that the psychological evaluation where they found Kelly had pedophile tendencies was in 2000; the incident involving the victim who was molested at St. Andrew's in San Andreas happened in 2002- two years after the Diocese was warned not to have Kelly be around children at all.

HermitTalker: Guess you missed the Stockton Vicar's testimony this week - printed in all of the Stockton area papers- that after a number of complaints from parents, Kelly was evaluated by a Bay Area psychiatrist. That psychiatrist found that he had pedophile tendencies and told the Diocese that Kelly SHOULD NOT EVER WORK AROUND CHILDREN. This was back in 2002. And you do know that last year a young man came forward to say he had been molested at St. Patricks in San Adreas, right? And that this is not a case of repressed memory? That would mean that after being warned about Kelly's pedophiliac tendencies the church kept him on. The victim at the press conference was right to ask law enforcement why the church kept him on. In Philadelphia, as we speak, a Monsignor is on criminal trial for failing to do anything about pedophile priests.

Donegal6: You are aware that the victim went to the police FIRST and found out that his case was too old for a criminal case, are you not? In California, you only have until your 29th birthday to come forward. That's why out of statute victims file civil suits. Law enforcement find civil suits to be helpful, because the media writes stories, which draws out new victims, and often the new victims are within statute for a criminal case.

Your collection plate donations at work!

Donegal 6: Papers are reporting that a number of victims have gone to the police. Police are asking for other Kelly victims to come forward. The Union Times Democrat reports that the DA and Sheriff are weighing what to do about Kelly, including issuing an arrest warrant.