July 16, 2003
Child-rape trial to
start for priest
Tewksbury woman accuses Kelley
Kathleen A. Shaw
TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
WORCESTER- Trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Monday in Worcester
Superior Court on child rape charges against the Rev. Robert E. Kelley.
He was indicted a year ago on five charges that he sexually abused and
raped Heather Mackey of Tewksbury when he was assigned as priest at St.
Cecilia parish in Leominster. She said the abuse started when she was 4
years old.
According to Ms. Mackey, who has talked publicly about her alleged
abuse, she first met Rev. Kelley when she visited her grandmother in
Leominster. He was assigned to that parish in 1976.
A pretrial conference is set the same day regarding child rape charges
brought against Rev. Kelley in connection with the alleged sexual abuse
of Denise Gallian of Ashburnham.
The trial and pretrial conference are listed on the court docket for
Monday. A spokeswoman for Worcester District Attorney John J. Conte said
yesterday the trial is scheduled for that date.
In the meantime, a civil trial is scheduled for Oct. 7 in Hampden
Superior Court in Springfield regarding a civil suit brought by Jane
Martin, who lives in that area, alleging that Rev. Kelley sexually
abused her when he was assigned to Notre Dame parish in Southbridge,
which was his first parish assignment after ordination in 1968.
Lawyer Michael P. Ascher of Springfield, who represents Ms. Martin, said
Rev. Kelley has admitted in sworn testimony taken in depositions that he
sexually abused Ms. Martin on more than one occasion between 1969 and
1974 when she was between the ages of 8 and 14.
The suit is against Rev. Kelley and the Worcester Catholic diocese.
The trial date was set during a recent pretrial conference before Judge
Peter A. Velis in Hampden Superior Court. Judge Velis officiated at the
civil trial in Worcester regarding David A. Lewcon of Webster in his
civil jury trial against the Rev. Thomas Teczar.
Mr. Ascher said he believes this is one of the first cases to be tried
before a jury since the wave of sexual abuse cases involving clergy
became public within the last two or three years.
Rev. Kelley, a 61-year-old Worcester resident, has not been allowed to
function as a priest since 1986, but he was never defrocked by the
Vatican.
He pleaded guilty in 1990 to raping Jennifer Kraskouskas of Gardner,
starting when she was about 10, and he was sentenced to five to seven
years in state prison.
Civil suits are still pending against Rev. Kelley regarding allegations
that he sexually abused Claire Baillargeon Groccia of Sturbridge and
Karen A. Pederson of Fitchburg.
A civil suit filed by Ms. Mackey against Rev. Kelley in Middlesex
Superior Court has been dismissed but lawyer Jeffrey A. Newman of Boston
said he was not free to discuss the details.
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