June 16, 2002

Abuse victim strives to shed dark childhood

By Richard Nangle, Telegram & Gazette Staff

Claire P. Baillargeon Groccia says she looks at the photographs of herself when she was 6 through her early teens, but can't remember them being taken. It's as though the time has been wiped from her memory bank.

With her in some of the pictures is a Catholic priest. The same priest also took his own pictures of her when she was very young.

“He told my mother he was entering a photography contest,” Ms. Groccia said. “He took me out in the woods and took 40 to 60 pictures of me.

“Some of the pictures are missing,” she added.

The priest is the Rev. Robert E. Kelley, a convicted rapist who now is facing new charges of child rape as well as a class action civil lawsuit. Ms. Groccia, now a Spencer resident, said she was living in Sturbridge when the alleged sexual abuse occurred.

Last month, Ms. Groccia, now 38, added her name to the list of plaintiffs in the lawsuit. She hopes that by coming forward she can both make peace with her childhood and offer some inspiration to others who believe they are victims of clergy sexual abuse.

The suit, she believes, offers some comfort for alleged victims who have blocked out those days.

Ms. Groccia said she discovered only a few years ago that Rev. Kelley was convicted of rape in 1990 and sentenced to prison. Her brother told her after reading a newspaper story.

“I said, 'Gee, that's weird. He took those pictures of me,' ” she said. “He took a lot of pictures on about three rolls of film. And they weren't very nice. I don't look very happy.

“He did admit in court that he took pictures of his victims and saved them as souvenirs. He answered yes to that question,” she noted.

Looking back, she said, Rev. Kelley's conviction has helped her piece her life together. She says he sexually abused her and that she grew up with a number of emotional and physical problems that date back to about the time the two met.

He was a family friend for 10 years, first meeting her when she was 4.

Recently, Ms. Groccia sent an e-mail to a group of the priest's alleged victims. They provided her with a photo of her that had been in Rev. Kelley's possession while he was at St. Cecilia's parish in Leominster. But it was not a photo that he took himself. It was a school portrait.

“I went to see them and they gave me that photo and I proceeded to see Mr. Shea,” she said.

Mr. Shea is Daniel J. Shea, a Houston lawyer who is representing several alleged victims in the class action suit. The initial plaintiff is Karen A. Pedersen of Fitchburg, who alleged that she was molested when Rev. Kelley was at St. Boniface parish in Lunenburg.

Bishop Daniel P. Reilly has been subpoenaed to give a deposition in the suit on Wednesday.

Rev. Kelley has not functioned as a priest since 1986. He was arraigned in Worcester Superior Court last week on five counts of child rape and is free on personal recognizance.

Ms. Groccia says her recent conversations with other alleged victims have led her to believe that Rev. Kelley was methodical in his approach.

“He seemed to go after the same family type -- people who are vulnerable. He was very close friends with our family and took advantage of that.”

Ms. Groccia is the youngest of six children. All the others went to college and have steady jobs. She was a high school graduate and does not have a steady work history. She is married with two children and credits her husband for helping her through some of her darker moments.

“As a young child I was introverted all my life,” she said. “I had physical problems like bed wetting. It started right after I met him.”