Written by Jamie Roberton.
The Seventh-day Adventist Church failed to act on information that members of the church were notorious pedophiles and sexually abused boys for decades, evidence seen by Channel 4 News suggests.
Dr. Donald Kelly has been grooming and assaulting school children since the 1960s, with many victims describing how Kelly used his power and standing in the church to torture them freely.
A Channel 4 News investigation has seen evidence that the Seventh-day Adventist Church was repeatedly warned about Kelly’s crimes over three decades.
The Metropolitan Police informed the church in 2009 of allegations against Kelly, while a senior UK church leader was informed in 2020 that Kelly was a “predatory pedophile.”
Kelly was questioned at least once by police before he died of cancer in November 2022.
The church, under pressure from victims’ groups, conducted an independent investigation into Kelly’s abuse in February 2023 but is yet to release its findings.
In a statement released through a lawyer, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in England told Channel 4 News that it was only informed of the allegations “in late 2021” and added that the church “knows the terrible and lasting damage caused by Donald Kelly.”
The church said it must “take the report seriously” and “think carefully about the lessons to be learned”, and concluded, “We are shocked that the actions of this one person have caused so many people to suffer.”
Channel 4 News has spoken to five people who say they were sexually abused by Donald Kelly. One was only seven years old when he was abused.
Two victims have waived their legal right to anonymity to speak about what they experienced at Kelly’s hands and their struggle for accountability from the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Michael Smith was 15 when Kelly – then a recent Oxford University medical graduate – came to his family home in the late 1960s and invited him to visit Oxford University with him.
“He took me around the university, showed me the operating theater during the day and in the evening he gave me an order to the Bed and Breakfast.”
Kelly proceeded to sexually assault Smith in the middle of the night.
“I’m embarrassed,” he told Channel 4 News.
“I thought, I’m 15 and this happened to me. I didn’t tell anyone else in my family. I didn’t tell my father. I didn’t tell my mother – to this day I still haven’t told my mother.”
Andrew Cadogan was 14 years old when Kelly used the same tactics he had used ten years earlier when he abused Michael Smith.
“The lights went out and people just jumped on me,” Cadogan said, describing the 1976 attack.
“It’s like I’m mine, ‘you’re mine, this is mine, this is mine’.”
Kelly continued to abuse Andrew during the weekend in Oxford.
“My mom comes home from work and she sees me, she goes, ‘How was your trip?’
“The first thing I said to her was, ‘Grandma, if this man comes to take Paul Jeffrey or Peter anywhere – he’s my brother – don’t let him, don’t let him’.”
Victims said that Kelly’s abuse of young children was common knowledge in the church at the time, with other church figures close to Kelly calling meetings with young children as the rumors grew.
“At the end of this meeting when everyone was talking, when he said, ‘If I hear someone say this…
Kelly will also continue to follow Andrew Cadogan after the trial.
“A friend of mine said to me, ‘Andrew, that guy’s looking at you’. He (Donald Kelly) was standing there watching me play football with a big smirk on his face.
“After we played football, I came home and my mother said, ‘he came to the house looking for you, asking for you’.”
“Wow, I’m scared.”
Donald Kelly then worked extensively around the world from 1972, working in Adventist-related institutions in Papua New Guinea, Jamaica, Canada, Colombia, Mexico and Australia.
He also worked in medical missionary programs throughout Africa, including Lesotho, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe and Sierra Leone.
Michael Smith spoke to police in 2009 after hearing more accounts from other victims, fearing that Kelly was “still abusing boys.”
No further action has been taken against Kelly, but the Metropolitan Police told Channel 4 News that officers contacted the church to report the allegations.
Andrew Cadogan reported the abuse to police in February 2022 after suffering a severe stroke.
Donald Kelly attended a “voluntary interview” with Hertfordshire Police but officers later said there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the case.
Kelly died in November, later that year.
Although the position of Seventh-day Adventists only became aware of the allegations in 2021, Channel 4 News has seen evidence that the church was told about Kelly’s abuse on several occasions over the past decade:
- In 1994, a senior figure in the Seventh-day Adventist Church was told that Kelly had been removed from his position at the University of Montemorelos School of Medicine in Mexico for “conduct contrary to the ethics of the medical profession.”
- In 2009, the Metropolitan Police informed “representatives of the Seventh-day Adventist Church” of serious allegations after speaking to Michael Smith.
- In 2020, a senior pastor in England was told that Kelly was a “predatory pedophile” after another victim came forward.
- In 2022, a government minister in Sierra Leone raised the abuse claim directly with Seventh-day Adventists only to be told that the church was “aware of the allegations against Donald Kelly.”
The latest statistics, published by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, show 25 million members worldwide. About 38,000 are based in the UK.
The church, globally, operates 9,489 schools, 15 homes or orphanages and 227 hospitals.
Michael Smith joined other victims in making a formal complaint with the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 2022 about the handling of Kelly’s abuse – before Kelly’s death.
The church eventually agreed to an independent inquiry in February 2023, which it said was concluded.
The victims have not seen the findings despite repeated written requests to church leaders, who are now being accused of “slow-rolling” the evidence.
The Southern Sunday Adventist Conference (SEC) told Channel 4 News in a statement that its trustees are “taking the report very seriously” and will contact victims with the findings when “legally possible.”
“You’ve been called the N-word, had a spat at school, so you go to church for resolution, for comfort,” Smith said.
“But you find the church – the people in charge – colluding to protect the fair name of the church instead of doing what they preach.”
Andrew Cadogan said: “I’m angry with them (the church). I haven’t read the report about me. I need the report, but the church is still. Where is my justice?”
Full statement from the trustees of the Southern England Seventh-day Adventist Conference (SEC):
“At the end of 2021, the Southern England Conference of Seventh Day Adventists (SEC) was shocked to receive a report of not recent sexual harassment against a former member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in our area, Donald Kelly, who is now deceased. back to 1960- an.
After the report, the SEC tasked thirty-eight – an independent Christian security organization – to investigate allegations of abuse by Donald Kelly, report the findings and advise on lessons to be learned and maintain procedures to be followed.
Thirty: eight have now completed a thorough investigation and submitted a full report, which was considered by the trustees. We intend to share these findings with everyone involved in the investigation before wider publication.
The SEC recognizes the terrible and lasting harm caused by Donald Kelly, and extends its deepest and most sincere sympathies to all those affected by his violent actions.
His family looked up to Donald Kelly because he was seen as a pillar of the community: an inspirational Oxford University graduate. But the devastating fact, which we now know, is that they exploited the respect in which they were held, and the admiration of their admirers, to abuse the children of the people.
This terrible and traumatic event happened many years ago, and Donald Kelly died in 2022, at the age of 79.
As the SEC continues to review and improve existing safeguards to make them as robust as possible, the SEC is carefully reflecting on lessons learned and will implement further measures as appropriate.
We take the safeguarding report seriously and continue to provide advice and guidance to ministers and members to deal with the situation, proportionately and appropriately.
We will contact the victim and share the findings of the investigation as soon as legally possible and thank all survivors and witnesses who have the courage to come forward to speak to investigators.
Today, Seventh-day Adventism has more than 25 million followers worldwide. We are surprised, because the actions of this one person have caused many people to suffer.”
