Former Shelby Township Priest Sentenced To Prison For Sex Abuse

SHELBY TOWNSHIP, MI — A former Macomb County priest will spend years in prison after he was convicted Wednesday of sex abuse, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said.

Neil Kalina, 67, was sentenced up to 15 years in prison after he was convicted on two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct by a jury in Macomb County Circuit Court last month. Kalina was a priest at St. Kiernan Catholic Church in Shelby Township from 1982 to 1985.

"This is a victory for the survivors who fought to see their abusers held accountable," Nessel said. "Regardless of how much time has passed or how difficult a case may be, my prosecutors are committed to securing justice for the victims of clergy abuse. Adults who prey upon and subject children to abuse belong in prison."

Kalina was first charged with sex abuse in May 2019 after he was arrested in Littlerock, California. However, the jury found him not guilty of that first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Since the beginning of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's clergy abuse investigation, 11 people have been charged with sex abuse.