Print Issue: May 16, 2002

Man Charged With Sex Abuse At St. Ann Parish In 1999, 2000

By Gretchen Keiser, Staff Writer

ATLANTA - Kenneth Joseph Cassity, 43, was arrested in Polk County, Fla., May 9 on charges that he sexually molested three youths while he was at St. Ann's Church, Marietta, in 1999 and 2000.

Cassity, who now lives in Auburndale, Fla., was arrested after Cobb County police issued warrants for his arrest on two counts of child molestation and four counts of sexual battery. After complaining of chest pains, he was hospitalized at Lakeland Regional Medical Center in Florida where he is under police guard. He was reported in fair condition May 13.

Dana Pierce, public information officer for Cobb County police, said investigators have identified three male victims. All were under the age of 17 at the time of the alleged abuse, he said. Cassity was described as an "interim pastoral aide" at the parish in a statement issued by the Missionaries of LaSalette, the religious order staffing St. Ann's.

He is a layman who was discerning a religious vocation while living at St. Ann's, according to the statement.

Cassity was under consideration for possible acceptance into the LaSalette congregation's novitiate program. However, he was not accepted into the program and "terminated his relationship" with the parish and the LaSalette congregation in the late summer of 2000, the order said.

While the alleged incidents occurred in 1999 and 2000, the investigation began May 6. Officials of the Archdiocese of Atlanta notified Cobb police and the county Department of Family and Children's Services that a family had brought allegations against Cassity to them that day, according to David Brown, attorney for the archdiocese. The Cobb district attorney's office was notified by the archdiocese May 7.

Pierce said that Cassity was asked to leave the parish in August 2000. He said Cassity came across the victims while doing service for the parish, which Pierce described as caring for the sick and distressed as well as regular church members.

"It was during his tenure there that he came upon these individuals, these victims," Pierce said.

In their statement, the order said, "The Missionaries of LaSalette are saddened by the criminal charges recently made against Mr. Kenneth Cassity on the basis of his alleged actions while he served as an interim pastoral aide at St. Ann's Parish in Cobb County, Ga., a few years ago."

"The Missionaries of LaSalette are saddened by the charges against Mr. Cassity and express our sincere regrets to any persons who may have been harmed by his conduct."

Cassity had recently worked at two Catholic parishes in Florida and Maryland.

Just prior to his arrest, he reportedly resigned as youth director at Holy Spirit Church in Lake Wales, Fla. He started there Nov. 1, 2001, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore reported in a press release that Cassity had worked from July 9 to Sept. 20, 2001 as coordinator of youth ministry at Sacred Heart Church in Glyndon, Md. The archdiocese said his employment was terminated within the probationary period for reasons including "reports of inappropriate conversations and language with children" and taking students off school property to get pizza without permission. He had had a clear Maryland criminal background check before being hired, the Archdiocese of Baltimore said.

Parishioners at the Maryland parish were informed of the allegations at Masses the weekend of May 11-12.

Cobb County is seeking to extradite Cassity back to Georgia to face the charges, all of which are felonies.

Pierce said Cassity had resided in Georgia, Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.