Albany diocesan priest placed on leave

An Albany diocesan priest, now working as a prison chaplain in Carson City, Nevada, has been placed on administrative leave by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, pending an investigation of a charge that he sexually abused a boy while serving on the staff of Boys Town in Nebraska during the late 1970s.

Rev. James Kelly, who grew up in Green Island and was ordained for the Albany Diocese in 1957, was informed of the action by Bishop Hubbard on Feb. 3, one day after the Bishop learned of a lawsuit naming Father Kelly.

The suit was filed last week in U.S. District Court in Omaha and reported in an Omaha paper on Jan. 31. The alleged victim claims to have repressed the memory of the abuse until a year ago.

Reaction

Father Kelly, in response to the lawsuit, maintains that he has never molested anyone. "Without hesitation, I can tell you that," he told the Omaha World Herald. "Absolutely not."

Rev. Val Peter, currently executive director of Boys Town and also a cousin of the accuser, has raised doubts about the reliability of the complaint, referring to what he calls the accuser's "checkered past."

But Father Peter promised that the institution will do a thorough investigation. "It still could have happened," he said. "We will find out. And we will take action. We want the truth."

Albany action

Under guidelines issued by America's Catholic bishops in November of last year, a priest so accused would not normally be placed on administrative leave until a preliminary investigation by his diocese had determined the accusation to be credible.

In the Boy's Town case, however, because there was a prior complaint against Father Kelly in the mid-1980s while serving in Rensselaer, Bishop Hubbard decided to take what he called the "extra precaution" of placing Father Kelly on leave right away while the new complaint is being investigated.

Immediately following the complaint in the mid-'80s, the Albany Diocese investigated the charge and determined that Father Kelly's behavior did not constitute sexual abuse. As an added safety measure, Father Kelly was sent to a therapeutic facility for evaluation and therapy before returning to ministry.

In June 2002, following the Church's adoption of national guidelines, the charge against Father Kelly from the 1980s was reviewed by the Albany Diocesan Sexual Misconduct Panel, which was created in 1993; that panel also made the determination that his behavior did not constitute sexual abuse.

Biography

Following his ordination in 1957, Father Kelly did graduate study in physics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and then served until 1967 as instructor both in physics and in theology at Mt. St. Mary's College in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

After his return to the Albany Diocese, Father Kelly served as associate pastor in several parishes and as associate chaplain of the Newman Club at SUNY-Albany before becoming principal of Keveny Academy in Cohoes from 1969 until 1974. He then staffed the diocesan office of youth activities until September 1975, when he took an assignment at Boys Town, where he worked from 1975 until 1982.

For the following decade, he once again served in several parishes in the Albany region, including pastorates at St. Joseph's, Rensselaer (1983-'84) and at St. Agnes/St. Patrick's, Cohoes (1985-'88).

He then did chaplaincy work at the Saratoga County jail until he was granted permission by the Albany Diocese to live with family members and minister in the Diocese of Reno. Upon Father Kelly's transfer to Nevada, Bishop Hubbard informed officials in the Reno Diocese of the allegation in the mid-1980s.

With the current Girls and Boys Town allegation, the Reno Diocese also announced today that it was following the lead of the Albany Diocese and removing Father Kelly from any public ministry pending the outcome of an investigation.

(02-06-03) [[In-content Ad]]