Sexual assault case against priest died with the victim. The California AG is right to review | Opinion

In Calaveras County, criminal charges of sexual abuse against a popular Catholic priest were dropped after the victim, a minor at the time of the alleged acts, tragically died. Had his mother known that she could object to what District Attorney Barbara Yook was about to do, she said she would have urged the judge to keep the case alive.

Meanwhile, the priest is believed to be living free in Ireland, safe from his past.

When justice for whatever reason cannot be advanced at a local level, it falls to California’s Attorney General to intervene. Rob Bonta has taken those important first steps to explore this disturbing case. There simply are too many unanswered questions remaining.

After the Sacramento Bee published an investigation by reporter Joe Rubin, the Attorney General’s Office agreed to investigate the Calaveras County District Attorney’s decision to drop charges against Father Michael Kelly. Should the attorney general find that the evidence warrants further action, Bonta should not hesitate to refile charges and seek to extradite Kelly from Ireland to stand trial.

This story of a local priest preying on the church’s boys is all too familiar. Trevor Martin said he was repeatedly raped, starting at the age of 10, by Kelly when Martin was an altar boy at St. Andrew’s Church in San Andreas. After a troubled childhood with difficulties in school and with anger and relationships, Martin stayed silent until he was 19.

Martin mustered the courage to file a civil lawsuit against Kelly and the Diocese of Stockton. Another former altar boy had filed a case in 2008. The allegations against Kelly prompted the creation of a 1,200-member group of parishioners who emphatically defended the priest, some to this day.

In the end, the diocese acknowledged the wrongdoing. Kelly never has. The diocese wrote in a letter to Martin’s mother in 2017, “The diocese accepts full responsibility for the abuse of Trevor and the pain to him and your family.”

A Calaveras County grand jury in 2014 issued four criminal counts against Kelly. No district attorney needs such a step to file charges. For whatever reason, Yook did. As investigations against him were unfolding, Kelly in 2012 fled to his native Ireland. Whatever efforts Calaveras and federal officials made to extradite him were unsuccessful, even though he was detained in a Morocco jail for a period.

Two years after Kelly was indicted, Martin took an overnight hike with a friend, planning to parachute off a cliff. A video from his camping companion showed that Martin’s parachute opened, but it and Martin veered into a rock wall. Martin died from the impact.

With the victim deceased, Yook moved to dismiss the case against Kelly.

Martin’s mother, Deanna Hampton, said she was not notified of her right to object in front of a judge. Presumably, Bonta’s office will investigate this serious allegation.

What followed the dismissal of the case against Kelly is also perplexing. The Bee could not obtain a copy of the case file at Calaveras County Superior Court. A court staffer claimed the case was sealed. The district attorney denies that it was. For whatever reason, to the outside world, the case had vanished. Hampton has said she wants access to whatever documents exist with the court. And she also wrote to Bonta, requesting his office’s review of the entire matter.

It is a rare move for an attorney general to publicly acknowledge a review of a local matter such as this. But this is no routine local case.

The tragic death of Trevor Martin did not mean that his quest for justice had to die as well. That was Yook’s decision. Whether that decision was reasonable, or an abuse of office, is worth the attorney general’s considerable attention.

Martin’s case against Kelly lives through his previous testimony, his communications with others and additional evidence. Bonta is right to ensure that a heinous crime in this rural county is not swept under the rug for any reason. Justice sometimes does not come swiftly. And justice never happens without a rigorous look at all elements of the case to carefully decide how to move forward. Trevor Martin and his family deserve that care.