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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Priest On Trial for Child Molestation
Aired April 20, 2002 - 08:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, now we turn our attention to the Catholic church sex scandal and a case involving a Santa Rosa priest. The Reverend Don Kimball was convicted this week of molesting a 13-year-old girl back in 1981. He faces 14 years in prison. Kimball no longer performs priestly duties, but he has not been defrocked, and he denies all charges.
In an exclusive interview with CNN, Connie Chung sat down with the accused priest before the verdict came down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CONNIE CHUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even your accusers say that you are an incredibly charismatic priest and that they were able to relate with you. You were the "in" adult.
DONALD KIMBALL, CATHOLIC PRIEST: Well, maybe they did. I wasn't trying to be. I was trying to connect with them. You know, one of the -- one of the scary things about this accuser thing I'd like to point out is that they paint a picture of a guy who builds their trust and does all this stuff, you know, and then molests them. But a good youth minister does the same thing, but doesn't molest them.
CHUNG: Did you rape Mary Algayani (ph)?
KIMBALL: Absolutely not.
CHUNG: Did you molest her?
KIMBALL: No.
CHUNG: Did you have any sexual contact with Mary?
KIMBALL: No. In fact, I didn't have a relationship with her.
CHUNG: But didn't she come to you with her problems?
KIMBALL: No.
CHUNG: She never came to you...
KIMBALL: That's correct.
CHUNG: ... to help with family problems? CHUNG: That is correct.
CHUNG: She claims that she became pregnant with your child and that you drove her to San Francisco to have an abortion and held her hand. Is that true?
KIMBALL: No. None of it's true.
CHUNG: Why would she make all of this up?
KIMBALL: Well, now, I'm not a psychiatrist. I think a good psychiatrist ought to check this out.
CHUNG: It is quite extraordinary if she could make everything up.
KIMBALL: Yes, it is. I found it extraordinary. In fact -- in fact, I find it unbelievable that we've gotten this far, that this thing went this far. It's just -- it's just incredible to me.
CHUNG: Did you molest Ellen Brent (ph)?
KIMBALL: Absolutely not.
CHUNG: Did you have any physical contact, sexual physical contact with Ellen Brent?
KIMBALL: No.
CHUNG: Why would she lie?
KIMBALL: Well, I will tell you what I think. She made a lot of money off this story.
CHUNG: In the civil suit settlement?
KIMBALL: Yes.
CHUNG: Have you broken your vow of celibacy?
KIMBALL: Have I found my way to get close to some women? A few, yes. And as I, you know, came out of the seminary -- and there weren't any women in there, I'll tell you -- I began to realize that the first thing I wasn't prepared for -- I knew how to say mass.
CHUNG: What were you not prepared for?
KIMBALL: I wasn't prepared for putting on that uniform, walking out into real life and discovering the number of women who were coming on to me. I wasn't prepared for that.
CHUNG: The women came on to you?
KIMBALL: Oh, yeah, big-time! And I'm not saying it was me...
CHUNG: Because you were wearing the collar? KIMBALL: Yeah. It's -- I think they were in love with the uniform. You know, it's a uniform thing. I -- and this is later. I wasn't sitting there going, "Gee, it's the uniform, not me." I was kind of going, "Wow, that's pretty attractive." You know, I -- you know -- and then it was -- it was a matter of just being able to say, "Well, no, you're married. I don't want to get involved in that kind of thing." Someone else may be involved. And I had -- I first found that the most available women, who were adults, to me were people in the 18, 19 to about 25-year-old range.
CHUNG: Let me get this straight. You're saying that women found you to be a challenge because you wore the collar and they wanted to have sex with you.
KIMBALL: I wouldn't say that every woman wanted to go all the way to sex, but I found women wanted the challenge of the forbidden fruit, you know, which they thought I had, you know? And you have to also remember that this was the '70s, and I was able to -- things were a lot more open then. And to be really honest, I wasn't into fooling around. What I was really...
CHUNG: You weren't into fooling around?
KIMBALL: No, I really wasn't. What I wanted was maybe a partner because I felt in the '70s -- and I think a lot of people felt this way -- that the rule on celibacy may change soon, and...
CHUNG: In fact, it didn't.
KIMBALL: ... I was open to seeing if there was somebody that I could live my life with.
CHUNG: But you did stray a few times?
KIMBALL: Oh, yes.
CHUNG: Those few times that you strayed, were these women adult women?
KIMBALL: All adult women.
CHUNG: Were any of them under age?
KIMBALL: No.
CHUNG: Did you at any time molest or have sexual contact with anyone under age?
KIMBALL: No.
CHUNG: Have you ever thought of leaving the priesthood?
KIMBALL: Yes. I've thought about it.
CHUNG: Was the celibacy part of the problem for you? KIMBALL: Celibacy has never made sense to me. And I don't think it makes a man more spiritual or less spiritual. I don't think a married man is less spiritual than a celibate man. You know, people are spiritual because they're spiritual. And the most spiritual people ought to be leading our prayer.
CHUNG: If you did stray as a priest -- I mean, you did have relations with, as you say, adult women. If you're willing to break that rule...
KIMBALL: Why not break them all? Is that what you're asking? I was looking for a partner my age, or as close to my age as I could get. And I don't think you get a perfect match on the age. I think you want to get the right match person-wise. And I wasn't looking at little kids.
CHUNG: This is quite a heinous crime...
KIMBALL: Yes, it is.
CHUNG: ... you're accused of.
KIMBALL: Yes.
CHUNG: I -- forgive me, but I don't see anger. I don't find you appalled that you've been accused of such an act.
KIMBALL: I am appalled. I am absolutely appalled. But I started being appalled five years ago, so maybe some of that's been muted.
CHUNG: How are you dealing with all of this?
KIMBALL: I feel isolated, alone within the church structure. But the church leadership here right now doesn't seem to want to help me.
CHUNG: And why is that?
KIMBALL: Well, I just don't think -- you know, they just -- they haven't had an innocent guy, so -- you know, that they know of. You know, they probably -- I think in a couple of cases they probably have, but they don't know that. And they don't know how to manage an innocent priest.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: CNN's Connie Chung will have an in-depth coverage of the crisis in the priesthood. Join Connie as she reports live from Rome. CNN's coverage begins on Monday.
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