KALAMAZOO (MI)
Department of Attorney General - Michigan [Lansing MI]
May 22, 2024
By The Michigan Department of Attorney General
May 22, 2024
LANSING– Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel today announced the release ofa report (PDF)by the Department of Attorney General concerning allegations of abuse that took place in the Diocese of Kalamazoo.
[Note from BishopAccountability.org: To see our cache of AG Nessel’s report on Kalamazoo, click here.]
The report was released to acknowledge the reports of abuse from victims and to report the Department’s findings. The document is a compilation of excerpts from the information obtained from the tip line, victim interviews, police investigations, open-source media, paper documents seized from the Diocese of Kalamazoo, and the electronic documents found on the diocesan computers, as well as reports of allegations disclosed by the Diocese.
The list of priests for which there were allegations of sexual misconduct against either children or adults since January 1, 1950, for the Diocese of Kalamazoo that was established in 1971, is derived from information gleaned from a search warrant that was executed against the Diocese of Kalamazoo on October 3, 2018, and from the tip line operated by the Department of Attorney General since 2018. There are 19 priests on this list, 12 were ordained or incardinated by the Diocese of Kalamazoo.
“For too long, sexual assault and abuse have been surrounded by silence,” Nessel said. “This investigation aims to shatter that silence, empowering survivors to speak their truth. My department is committed to ensuring that every case of sexual abuse and assault is thoroughly reviewed and investigated in an effort to pursue justice for victims.”
The Diocese of Kalamazoo agreed to provide reports of abuse to the Department of Attorney General. Victims often reach out to their faith leaders to share stories of alleged abuse. The willingness of the Diocese to provide information was instrumental in the compilation of the report. The report was shared with the Diocese of Kalamazoo in advance of being released to the public to ensure accuracy and completeness.
The report contains detailed descriptions of allegations of sexual abuse and other sexual misconduct, including grooming and misuse of authority, against minors and adults. The possible criminal prosecution of many of these allegations is barred by the statute of limitations, or because the accused priest is deceased, or for other allegations because the conduct did not violate Michigan law or the person who alleged the sexual abuse did not wish to pursue criminal charges.
The information is being released to the public as an acknowledgment to the victims of these alleged crimes and as a public accounting of the resources allocated to the Department of Attorney General to investigate and prosecute clergy abuse. It is important to note, a criminal charge is merely an allegation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. This is the third of what will be seven separate reports, one regarding each of the seven Dioceses. On October 27, 2022, the Department of Attorney General releasedits report regarding the Diocese of Marquette, and on January 8, 2024, the Department releasedits report regarding the Diocese of Gaylord.
In October 2018, 42 Michigan State Police troopers, five officers from different law enforcement agencies and 15 special agents from the Department of Attorney General executed search warrants at Michigan’s seven dioceses. In that effort, they seized 220 boxes of paper documents and more than 3.5 million digital documents.
To date, the department has:
- Completed the paper document review of more than 1.5 million documents;
- Completed the electronic document review of more than 3.5 million documents;
- Hired and trained a full-time victim advocate to support the hundreds of victims identified during the investigation;
- Continued to refer the completed criminal investigations back to the respective dioceses;
- Followed up with victims who have not been interviewed by a trauma-informed interviewer; and
- Issued criminal charges in 11 cases throughout the entire state and secured convictions in nine cases, delivering justice for 38 survivors.
“The Michigan State Police and prosecutors in my department deserve immense credit for their tireless work pursuing these incredibly difficult cases,” Nessel said. “While this report and the criminal prosecution brought against these clergymen won’t erase survivors’ pain, I hope their brave decision to come forward brings them a measure of closure after what has been a long and arduous journey.”
Of the 11 cases, two of the cases were related to priests ministering in the Diocese of Kalamazoo:
- People v. Brian Stanley– Stanley, a priest at St. Margaret’s Catholic Church in Otsego, was sentenced in January of 2020 to 60 days’ incarceration and five years’ probation on one count of Attempted False Imprisonment. Stanley pled guilty in January 2020 to immobilizing a teenage boy by wrapping him tightly in plastic wrap and using masking tape as additional binding to cover the child’s eyes and mouth, leaving him bound and alone in the janitor’s room for an extended period of time before returning and eventually letting him go in 2013.
- People v. Jacob Vellian– Vellian, a priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Benton Harbor, was charged in May of 2019 with two counts of rape under the previous criminal sexual assault statutes. In November 2023, the Department was notified that Vellian likely passed while awaiting extradition from India but is awaiting formal confirmation from the Department of State of his death.
The other nine criminal prosecutions of Catholic priests charged with sexual assault in Michigan by the Attorney General are:
- People v. Vincent DeLorenzo– DeLorenzo, a priest at Holy Redeemer Church in Burton, was sentenced to one year in jail and five years’ probation in June of 2023 on one count of Attempted First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. DeLorenzo pled guilty to sexually assaulting a five-year-old boy following a service he officiated for the boy’s deceased family member in 1987. DeLorenzo died in January 2024 while serving his sentence.
- People v. Joseph “Jack” Baker– Baker, a pastor at St. Perpetua Parish in Waterford and at St. Mary Parish in Wayne and an associate pastor at Sacred Heart in Dearborn and at St. Hugo of the Hills Parish in Bloomfield Hills, was sentenced to 3-15 years’ incarceration in March of 2023 on one count of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. A jury found Baker guilty of sexual penetration with a person under 13 for a 2004 rape. The charge against Baker came about as a result of a referral from the Archdiocese of Detroit, which received the original report and immediately reported it to the lead prosecutor on Attorney General Nessel’s clergy abuse team in 2019.
- People v. Neil Kalina– Kalina, a priest at St. Kiernan Catholic Church in Shelby Township, was sentenced to 7-15 years’ incarceration in July 2022 on two counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. A jury found Kalina guilty of sexually assaulting a child aged 14 in 1984. Kalina is set to be resentenced in Macomb County Circuit Court on June 6th.
- People v. Gary Berthiaume– Berthiaume, a priest at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Wyandotte and later Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, was sentenced to 17 months to 15 years’ incarceration on two counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and one count of Gross Indecency in January 2022. Berthiaume pled guilty to the CSC charges and no contest to the gross indecency in 2021. Berthiaume sexually abused three children between the ages of 13 and 15 in the 1970s. He was arrested in 1977 for sexual assault of two other minor children and served time in the Oakland County Jail for these crimes, before being transferred by the church to the Diocese of Cleveland.
- People v. Gary Jacobs– Jacobs, a priest in the Diocese of Marquette active in Dickinson and Ontonagon Counties, was sentenced to 8-15 years’ incarceration on three counts of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and two counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. Jacobs pled guilty to each count, admitting to abusing five children under the age of 16 in the Upper Peninsula during the 1980s. In total, there were 11 complaints of abuse by children against Jacobs.
- People v. Patrick Casey– Casey, a priest at St. Theodore of Canterbury Parish in Westland, was sentenced in November of 2019 to 45 days’ incarceration and one year of probation on one count of Aggravated Assault. Casey pled to the charge as a jury deliberated one count Third-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct for initiating oral sex with an adult attempting to make confession to him in 2013.
- People v. Timothy Crowley– Crowley, a priest at St. Thomas Rectory in Ann Arbor, was sentenced in November 2023, to one year incarceration and five years’ probation on two counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. Crowley pled guilty in August 2023, and was originally charged with four felony counts of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and four felony counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct for sexually abusing a minor child three decades ago.
- People v. Roy Joseph– Joseph, a priest in Marquette County, was charged with one count of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct in January of 2020 for a 2006 assault. He is awaiting extradition from India.
- People v. Joseph Comperchio– Comperchio, a church organist and Catholic school drama and music teacher at St. John Catholic School in Jackson who held himself out to be a Catholic brother, was sentenced to 10-30 years’ incarceration on one count of First-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and three counts of Second-Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct. Comperchio pled guilty to each count in June of 2021, he had been originally charged with two counts of First-Degree CSC and nine counts of Second-Degree CSC for sexual abuse of four minor children, some as young as nine-years-old, in the 1970s. Comperchio died from natural causes in 2022 while serving his sentence.
In addition to the paper and digital documents seized from the dioceses, information is also received through the Attorney General’s clergy abuse tip line. The tip line has generated 1015 tips related to abuse, leading to many police investigations, at least 180 victim interviews, and more than 285 police reports.
For Kalamazoo, the investigation yielded 65 tips to the AG tipline. Sixteen of those were provided directly from the Diocese of Kalamazoo. Of the 220 boxes of paper documents that were seized from the Archdiocese and the six Dioceses, 58 boxes containing approximately 145,000 documents were reviewed related to the Diocese of Kalamazoo. Of the 3.5 million electronic documents seized, 200,178 documents were reviewed related to the Diocese of Kalamazoo.
Information can be shared via the investigation hotline at 844-324-3374 or byemail.
For more information on the Attorney General’s clergy abuse investigation or to submit information,visit the department’s website.
Victims of sexual abuse and/or assault in need of additional resources should contact 855-VOICES4.
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Please note:For all criminal proceedings, a criminal charge is merely an allegation. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. The Department does not provide booking photos.
https://www.michigan.gov/ag/news/press-releases/2024/05/22/ag-nessel-releases-report-of-alleged-abuse-at-diocese-of-kalamazoo
