So you still think this can’t happen to YOU?

Folks, if you think you can walk through life not worrying about what someone might say about you 25 years later, think again. The point here is NOT whether something happened or not; the point is that there are no statutes of limitations, meaning that ANYONE can come forward and burn you ANYTIME! Try proving that you didn’t commit a crime despite the fact that there’s no evidence. This woman had to wait that long to make a complaint? Oh, I know, she was so shocked and upset that it simply festered inside her for that long. Now she’s decided to do every student a favor and say something. Is there a possibility she was abused? Yes. Is there also the possibility that she’s looking for a payoff? Yes. In the article she mentions that she doesn’t want any other student to endure the same abuse. Then why did she wait 20 something years to say something? She certainly didn’t seem to care about those students well-being. I smell something here and it’s not roses…..Read on.

Holy Redeemer Catholic Elementary principal placed on leave following sex abuse suit

by Contact Patricia Montemurri at pmontemurri@freepress.com or 313-223-4538

John P. Kiley, principal of Holy Redeemer Catholic Elementary school in Detroit, was put on paid administrative leave Wednesday after the Catholic Archdiocese learned of a sexual abuse lawsuit filed against him Monday in Oakland County Circuit Court.

Marlene Veres, 36, said she was abused by Kiley as a student at the now-closed St. Bede Elementary School in Southfield.

Veres said Thursday that Kiley was her onetime teacher and basketball coach, beginning when she was a St. Bede sixth-grader and continuing for two years until the end of eighth grade.

“We were sitting on the living room couch. We were talking and he said I had two beauty marks on my neck,” she said Thursday, touching a spot on her neck. She says he told her: “Those are your trademarks and I’m going to plant a kiss on them…That’s when it started.”

“We learned of the court filing yesterday,” said Ned McGrath, an Archdiocese of Detroit spokesman. “While these are allegations at this point, they (are) of a serious nature prompting the parish to put Mr. Kiley on paid leave of absence until this matter can be reviewed by the Detroit archdiocese.”

Kiley has worked at six different Catholic schools. He taught at St. Peter, Mt. Clemens from 1981-1985; at St. Bede from 1986 to 1991; St. Juliana in Detroit from 1992-2003; East Catholic Elementary in Detroit from 2004-2008; Gesu in Detroit from 2009-2011; and has been at Holy Redeemer since 2011, McGrath said.

In an email, McGrath said the archdiocese is conducting its own internal investigation, and has contacted law enforcement. Kiley could not be reached for comment.

Veres said Thursday that the abuse continued from the end of sixth grade through most of her eighth grade year, or from May 1989 to May 1991. During that time, she said that they engaged in oral sex, fondling and other sex acts at her home, at the school, and in Kiley’s car.

Veres said Kiley took advantage of her family situation at the time. Her mother was a custodian at the school, and was going through a divorce.

“He always had the opportune time. He befriended my mom and she had a trust in him,” said Veres. “He knew when she wasn’t around. He knew when she was working at school.”

When family members became suspicious, she said she denied any improprieties had taken place.

“It was always there, but I suppressed it to a point,” said Veres, who is divorced. She said she decided to deal with the after-effects of the abuse because she has two teenage daughters.

“All these years, I kind of lived my life. Now, I’m thinking of my girls – and other girls and whether they’re safe,” said Veres.

Veres’ lawyer, Frederick Livingston, said Veres didn’t come forward earlier because she believed she had consented to the sex acts, even though as a young teen she was not old enough to give legal consent.

“Her parents were separated…He came in and did things that Dad would do,” said Livingston. “When it first started happening, she really believed that this person loved her, and she didn’t want to get him in trouble.”

Veres, who was interviewed Thursday by the Free Press and her Imlay City workplace, is seeking damages in excess of $25,000 in the lawsuit.

Filed under: Statute of limitations Tagged: abuse, catholic, school, student