In March 1970, Father Leonard Joseph Kelly received a letter from Bishop John Michael O’Neill, instructing him to swiftly depart his parish in Baie Verte due to undisclosed long-standing issues. The bishop urged Kelly to leave under the guise of seeking medical care to avoid causing scandal. Instead of involving authorities, the bishop recommended Kelly to the Southdown Institute near Toronto for therapy, a center known for treating various issues among priests for decades.
Recently uncovered letters from Kelly’s personnel file have sparked a legal action in central Newfoundland, where Guardian Insurance is seeking critical documents from the Southdown Institute through a Norwich order. The aim is to determine why Kelly was admitted in 1970 and potentially reveal if the church was aware of risks he posed to children before entering into an insurance agreement in the 1980s.
Kelly faces a 2022 lawsuit for alleged sexual abuse in Gander, where a plaintiff claims to have been victimized by him between 1977 and 1983. Kelly’s prior conviction for assaulting two 12-year-old boys in the mid-1980s led to a jail sentence after an appeal deemed probation inadequate.
The church’s corporate entity, the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of Grand Falls, is implicated in the legal battle, with revelations of Kelly’s troubled past and the bishop’s discreet handling of the situation. The ongoing court case seeks to uncover the mystery surrounding the Winter Commission report on clergy abuse, shedding light on past incidents involving Kelly and other priests sent to the Southdown Institute for various behavioral issues.
As legal proceedings continue, Guardian Insurance, Southdown, and the Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of Grand Falls are engaged in a legal battle, with a court hearing scheduled for January 26, 2027.