LANSING (WWJ/AP) - A former Roman Catholic priest in Michigan will be tried on sexual assault charges for allegedly abusing a 5-year-old boy after a 1987 family funeral.
Vincent DeLorenzo was bound over for trial Wednesday during a hearing in Grand Blanc District Court. The judge also increased DeLorenzo's bond from $100,000 to $200,000. He remains lodged in Genesee County Jail.
The 81-year-old DeLorenzo is accused of abusing the boy from 1995 to 2000. The child was a student at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church school in Burton. The alleged victim testified he was raped by DeLorenzo in the second grade.
DeLorenzo is charged with four counts of first-degree and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct. He faces up to life in prison and a lifetime of electronic monitoring for the first-degree charges, and 15 years in prison for each second-degree charge.
"My team continues to work diligently every single day on the cases which have been charged, the investigations we are pursuing and the millions of documents we seized from Michigan’s seven dioceses through search warrants executed in October 2018," Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement. "We will not rest until we have pursued every victim’s complaint."
The state's investigation has resulted in several priests being charged with multiple crimes:
- Joseph Baker – Scheduled to appear at a jury trial on Feb. 10 in Wayne County Circuit Court.
- Patrick Casey – Sentenced Nov. 20, 2019, to 45 days in jail, one year of probation and is required to attend sex offender counseling. He pleaded guilty Oct. 8, 2019, to aggravated assault.
- Timothy Crowley – The case was dismissed in Washtenaw County District Court. The Department of Attorney General filed an appeal Dec. 10, 2019, and Crowley filed a motion Feb. 12, 2020, for sanctions against the department.
- Neil Kalina – Scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 10 on two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a person between the ages of 13 and 16. The incidents reportedly occurred in 1984.
- Gary Allen Jacobs – Arrested and arraigned Jan. 17, 2020, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on six counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a child between the ages of 13 and 16, one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a child between the ages of 13 and 16, and one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a person under 13. Bond was set at $100,000 cash. He is refusing extradition from New Mexico to Michigan.
- Roy Joseph – Charged Jan. 17, 2020, with one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. He currently resides in India and officials are working through the process of extradition.
- Brian Stanley – Sentenced Monday to 60 days in Allegan County Jail, with credit for two days served, and ordered to five years’ probation and to register as a sex offender for 15 years. He pleaded guilty Nov. 20, 2019, to one felony count of attempted false imprisonment.
- Jacob Vellian – Charged with two counts of rape, a maximum sentence of life in prison. He now lives in India and officials are working through the process of extradition.
