Former Myrtle Beach altar boy sues Charleston diocese, claims priest molested him in early 1990s
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — A former alter boy at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Myrtle Beach was sexually abused for years by a priest who died in 2004, a lawsuit alleges.
The John Doe complaint filed Jan. 8 in Horry County Common Pleas also alleges that diocesan officials had full knowledge of the acts. The suit is seeking an undisclosed amount of money for “many types of injuries and damages including severe pain, suffering and mental anguish.”
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The Catholic Diocese of Charleston in a court filing of its own has asked to have the case moved to U.S. District Court.
The 24-page suit accuses the diocese and its bishop at the time of “facilitating a hunting field for young boys by pedophile priests which caused horrific damage to countless children, including the Plaintiff.”
The priest, Robert Kelly, died at the age of 77. He served at St. Andrew Catholic Church from 1990 through 1994.
“We have received a copy of the lawsuit and are currently reviewing it. We will respond to the pleading in due time,” diocesan spokeswoman Maria Aselage said Wednesday in a statement to News13.
According to the suit, Kelly took advantage of the plaintiff’s role as an altar boy, who “had no idea that kissing, touching and fondling by a priest was not common behavior …. he now understands that this was the first step in the process of Kelly grooming and later sexually exploiting him.”
Kelly, according to his obituary, was named a reverend monsignor by Pope John Paul II in 1991.
The victim for years suppressed Kelly’s sexual abuse, but the memories resurfaced in 2021 when another John Doe complaint was filed against him, the lawsuit says.
“He sought professional therapy after these memories surfaced and slowly began opening up to his family about his past trauma, the suit claims. “In these recollections, he started to have vivid flashbacks of the abuse by Kelly and realized that he too had been one of the many victims of a predatory priest in the Catholic church.”
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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here.
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