Priest faces charges in 1977 abuse of boy

The Rev. Joseph Kelleher, a chaplain at Bishop McGuinness High School, turned himself in to face charges that he molested a 14-year-old boy 33 years ago at a church in Albemarle.

Kelleher, 82, of Winston-Salem was charged by Albemarle police with one count of indecent liberties with a child.

He was released on a $5,000 bond. He is scheduled to make his first court appearance Aug. 9 in Albemarle, said Albemarle Police Chief Ronnie Michael.

According to a list on the diocese's website, Kelleher served at Our Lady of Lourdes in Raleigh for about a year during 1969-1970, and in Charlotte at St. Patrick Cathedral from September 1966 until April 1968, and Our Lady of the Assumption from August 1977 to July 1986.

Michael said the allegation is that Kelleher abused the boy in 1977, while Kelleher was pastor of Our Lady of Annunciation in Albemarle. He served the church from April 1973 to August 1977.

The allegations surfaced in September in an Internet chat room for clergy-abuse victims. A man wrote that Kelleher had repeatedly molested him at a church in Albemarle and asked for advice on what to do.

Other people in the chat room encouraged him to go to the police. The man then contacted the Albemarle police department. Separately, an anonymous e-mail directed officials at the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte to the man's posts in the chat room.

After reading the posts, officials at the diocese contacted the Stanly County Department of Social Services, and the church started an internal investigation.

Kelleher will be on administrative leave until the investigation is over, said David Hains, a spokesman for the Charlotte diocese.

"When you have a credible allegation of sexual abuse, it puts the safety of children at risk," he said.

Seth Langdon, an attorney for the younger man, declined to comment Thursday, saying he didn't want to do anything that would interfere with Kelleher having a fair trial.

Kelleher began his service with the church in 1966 and retired in 1999. He previously served at Bishop McGuinness twice, in 1970 and in 1993, the diocese said.