AG Dana Nessel charges 5 alleged pedophile Catholic priests

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's office announced today 21 criminal sexual conduct charges against five men who were Catholic priests.

Four of the men have been arrested, while another awaits extradition in India.

“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,” Nessel said in a statement.

Charges were filed as follows:

-Timothy Michael Crowley, 69, Lansing Diocese, was charged in Washtenaw County with four felony counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct 1, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring. He was also hit with four felony counts of CSC 2, which carries 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, which carries 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, which carries 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, which carries 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.

-Jacob Vellian, 84, Kalamazoo Diocese, was charged with two counts of rape, which carries 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.

A sixth Michigan priest is facing an administrative complaint and his counselor's license has been summarily suspended by the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.

“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 said in a press release.

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