Author: Kathleen A. Shaw; Staff Reporter, Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)

,A Roman Catholic priest serving five to seven years in prison for molesting a Gardner girl will not be paroled at this time.

The Rev. Robert E. Kelley, who pleaded guilty in 1990 to molesting Jennifer A. Kraskouskas of Gardner, was considered for parole in January. The decision was delayed while the Parole Board gathered more information.

Robert L. Rice Jr., a Fitchburg lawyer representing Kraskouskas and her family, was told recently that the Parole Board has delayed reaching a decision and has requested a mental health evaluation. Rice said he was pleased by the Parole Board's action.

WAITING LIST

"This evaluation may take several months due to a waiting list," according to a letter sent to Rice by Marcia M. Hill, director of the board's Victims Service Unit.

Kraskouskas, now a freshman at Northeastern University, and her family asked the Parole Board not to release Kelley early. Four other alleged victims, who have not been publicly named, also wrote to the Parole Board asking that Kelley not be released, Rice said. A number of "friends and family" of Kraskouskas also wrote similar letters, Rice said yesterday.

Kraskouskas was raped and molested by Kelley, then pastor of Sacred Heart Church of Gardner, when she was 10 and 11.

Rice said he has heard that Kelley was "moved back to Concord (State Prison)." A spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections could not confirm where Kelley is within the prison system because the information could not be retrieved from the computer system until this morning.