Features

Woman still awaiting apology from priest

The Associated Press
Friday April 12, 2002

SANTA ROSA — The defense spent the bulk of closing arguments picking apart the credibility of two alleged victims of a Roman Catholic priest accused of raping and molesting them. 

Each side made a closing argument Thursday and the prosecution gets the last word Friday in the trial of the Rev. Don Kimball, 58, who is accused of raping the woman behind the altar of a Santa Rosa church in 1977 when she was 14. Kimball also is on trial for allegedly molesting a 13-year-old girl in 1981 in Healdsburg. 

If convicted, Kimball could face more than eight years in prison. 

The alleged rape victim, now 38, sat through the arguments and said the attack on her credibility did not rattle her. Kimball’s defense attorney Chris Andrian said the victims overstated, embellished and exaggerated their stories. 

The woman, who claims she was raped 25 years ago by Kimball, says she doesn’t care about the verdict in his trial. All she wants is an apology. 

Outside the courtroom she said that “I can live with the verdict.”