Former Kalamazoo Priest Charged With Rape Of Young Girl

The Michigan Attorney General’s office has issued charges against five men who were priests for sexual assault, including one in the Kalamazoo Diocese.

84-year-old Jacob Villian, has been charged with two counts of rape, after the state alleges he molested a girl under the age of 16. The Catholic Diocese of Kalamazoo says that Villian had been a visiting priest from Kottayam, India in the early 1970’s, and served for one year as a priest at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Benton Harbor. The Diocese says they have been fully cooperating with the investigation.

Authorities in Michigan are waiting for Villian to be extradited from India, and his charges could lead to life in prison.

Four other priests in Michigan were arrested and charged Friday, two from the Lansing Diocese and two from Detroit, with various different felony counts of criminal sexual conduct;

• 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, 63, Archdiocese of Detroit, was charged in Macomb County with four felony counts of CSC 2, 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.

Attorney General Dana Nessel says that these charges are “just the tip of the iceberg”, and that her office will continue to investigate allegations of priestly sexual abuse in Michigan.