A man who was once a priest serving at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Benton Harbor is one of five charged today with a total of 21 counts of criminal sexual conduct by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in a clergy abuse investigation.
Nessel says that 84 year old Jacob Vellian from the Kalamazoo Diocese, has been charged with two counts of Rape, a maximum sentence of life in prison. Vellian was a priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish, Benton Harbor, and now lives in Kerala, India.
Vellian is one of five former priests who have been charged with a total of 21 counts of criminal sexual conduct. The charges were revealed at a news conference by the Attorney General this morning in Lansing. Four of the men have been arrested whil Vellian awaits extradition in India. A sixth Michigan priest is facing an administrative complaint and his license as a professional educationally limited counselor has been summarily suspended by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).
Nessel said at the press conference, “In the last 30 hours, more than a dozen members of our investigative team have been in courtrooms in Washtenaw, Wayne, Genesee, Macomb and Berrien Counties while other members of our team have been working with local law enforcement in Arizona, California, Florida and Michigan – all in a carefully executed plan to take these charged defendants off the streets.” She adds, “Almost all of these charges came as a direct result of calls to our tip line but were then corroborated by files seized from the dioceses last fall, followed by multiple interviews with victims.”
Nessel points out, “Although we have charged these men with very serious crimes, I want to remind everyone that they are innocent until proven guilty by a court of law.”
Charges were filed as follows:
- Timothy Michael Crowley, 69, Lansing Diocese, was charged in Washtenaw County with four felony counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct (CSC) 1, a maximum sentence of life in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring, and four felony counts of CSC 2 – a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Crowley, who was a priest in various parishes, including St. Thomas Rectory in Ann Arbor, was arrested Thursday in Tempe, Arizona.
- Neil Kalina, 63, Archdiocese of Detroit, was charged in Macomb County with one felony count of CSC 4, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring. Kalina, who was a priest at St. Kiernan Catholic Church in Shelby Township, was arrested Thursday in Littlerock, California.
- Vincent DeLorenzo, 80, Lansing Diocese, was charged in Genesee County with three felony counts of CSC 1, a maximum sentence of life in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring, and three felony counts of CSC 2, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. DeLorenzo, who was a priest at Holy Redeemer Church in Burton, was arrested Thursday in Marion County, Florida.
- Patrick Casey, 55, Archdiocese of Detroit, was charged in Wayne County with one felony count of CSC 3, a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Casey, who was a priest at St. Theodore of Canterbury Parish in Westland, was arrested Thursday in Oak Park, Michigan.
- Jacob Vellian, 84, Kalamazoo Diocese, was charged with two counts of Rape, a maximum sentence of life in prison. Vellian was a priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish, Benton Harbor, and now lives in Kerala, India.
In addition, the professional educationally limited counselor’s license of Lawrence Ventline, a priest with the Archdiocese of Detroit, was summarily suspended by LARA last week and the Attorney General has filed an administrative licensing complaint against him.
Nessel was joined by Deputy Solicitor General Ann Sherman, who said, “It is my hope, as a Catholic and a public servant, that we can bring all predators to justice, creating a path toward healing for the victims of the sexual abuse scandal and underscoring the need for the Catholic Church to be transparent and to report sexual abuse to appropriate law enforcement.”
Andy Russell, who was a victim of Father James Francis Raap spoke at the news conference as well, urging Nessel to continue the fight to go after clergy abuse and reminding victims to call the hotline, saying, “I got justice and I want justice for everyone else. That’s why I am here – to make sure this attorney general gets the support she needs to keep doing this.”
Nessel praised the team of 44 attorneys, special agents and Michigan State Police troopers who have worked around the clock as part of the Attorney General’s investigative team, following up on tips received on the Attorney General’s tip line (844-324-3374; mi.gov/clergyabuse) and scouring hundreds of thousands of pages of documents seized from Michigan’s seven dioceses in October.
Nessel says, “This is just the tip of the iceberg,” and adds, “This is about taking on large-scale institutions that turn a blind eye to victims and making certain we hold all of them accountable – that includes unapologetically pursuing any and all individuals who abuse their power by victimizing our residents.”
