September 25,2003
 

WORCESTER -- The lawyer for the Rev. Robert Kelley said the prison slaying of defrocked priest John Geoghan has him seeking a more "creative recommendation" for his client's sentencing.

Kelley pleaded guilty in August to raping two young girls in the 1980s, when he was pastor at St. Cecilia's Parish in Leominster.

"My concern last time we were in court was for Kelley's safety and the problem he poses for correction," attorney Anthony Salerno said outside a Worcester County Superior courtroom Wednesday. "And that was before the Geoghan matter. That's even heightened our concern for his safety."

He would not specify what type of sentence he's going to ask for.

Salerno said he believes the safety problem Kelley faces as a priest in another high-profile child rape case would exist no matter what corrections facility he could be sent to in Massachusetts.

"I don't think that the problem disappears regardless of what facility he is in," Salerno said.

Worcester Superior Court Judge John McCann is scheduled to sentence the 61-year-old Kelley -- who faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment -- at an Oct. 1 hearing.

Salerno, who practices in Worcester, said the Aug. 23 fatal strangling of Geoghan, an ex-clergyman serving a nine- to 10-year prison term for child rape, should play a part in deciding an appropriate sentence for Kelley.

Joseph Druce, a convicted murderer serving time with Geoghan inside a protective custody unit at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Facility in Shirley, allegedly killed Geoghan by slipping past prison security measures and entering Geoghan's cell.

Salerno's comments came just moments after he and prosecutors received the results of a month long presentencing evaluation.

Kelley appeared but did not comment at the hearing Wednesday.

Because Kelley's charges stem from the 1980s, he will not be sentenced under the new guidelines established in Massachusetts by the Truth-in-Sentencing act in 1994.

Under the old guidelines, a convicted rapist such as Kelley could potentially be eligible for parole earlier in his prison term than under the new guidelines.

The new guidelines, which will not be used in Kelley's case, were later established to lessen the discrepancy between the sentence imposed on a convict and the actual time the convict spends in prison.

Kelley spent more than six years in state prison in the early 1990s for a previous guilty plea for raping a young girl.

Kelley's victims in these cases were not present at the Wednesday hearing.

But prosecutors said they may testify at the Oct. 1 sentencing or submit written victim impact statements.

Meanwhile, Druce, who shouted "Hold pedophiles accountable for their actions" during his arraignment last week, is scheduled to appear for his second hearing at the court Oct. 1, the same day as Kelley's sentencing.