Third person in US sues for alleged abuse by Irish priest

A third person in the US has filed a lawsuit claiming they were abused by Irish priest Michael Kelly.

The Tipperary native hit the headlines earlier this year when it emerged he had fled back to Ireland just a day before he was due to give evidence relating to abuse he was accused of inflicting upon an altar boy in the 1980s. The diocese where the abuse allegedly took place agreed to pay $3.75m (€2.8m) to that claimant.

A then 10-year-old altar boy, identified only as John MT Doe, has now come forward to claim he was sexually abused three times at a mission church in Calaveras around the year 2000 when the priest was a pastor there.

Now 22, the man is suing for damages claiming negligence, constructive fraud and sexual harassment in an action being taken against the Stockton diocese.

According to the local Recordnet.com news website, the man’s lawyers claim senior figures in the diocese had a duty to disclose the priest had previously been accused of sexual misconduct and should have stopped him from ministering to children.

The lawsuit also claims the diocese sent Michael Kelly for evaluation in 1999, and the psychologist said: “I do not believe that we are able to rule out the possibility that some underlying or latent paedophilic elements may exist in this case.”

Recordnet.com also said a spokesman for the Calaveras county sheriff said it was also conducting an investigation but did not say whether the victim was John MT Doe.

This is the second allegation against Kelly in the space of two months. Another lawsuit was filed by an altar boy on Sept 11.

Meanwhile, the Australian state of New South Wales has launched an investigation into claims of cover-ups and church interference in police investigations into child abuse.

In just one area, Newcastle-Maitland, there are 400 known clerical abuse victims and 11 priests have been charged or convicted since 1995.

The investigation has been sparked by the allegations of Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox, who claims the church covered up crimes of paedophile priests, silenced investigations and destroyed crucial evidence to avoid prosecutions. He himself investigated Irish priest, Denis McAlinden, who arrived from Ireland in 1949 and, over four decades, was transferred from parish to parish, allegedly to cover up his paedophilic activities. The priest died in 2005.