
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 3, 1995                   TAG: 9505030048
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

CHILD-MOLESTING CASE OVERTURNED

An appeals court overturned the convictions Tuesday of two people accused of molesting children at the Little Rascals Day Care Center, ordering new trials because of numerous errors the first time around.

The state's second-highest court ruled unanimously that testimony by the parents of alleged victims in Robert Kelly Jr.'s trial was inadmissible and also threw out the conviction of a second defendant, Kathryn Dawn Wilson.

Kelly, co-owner of the Little Rascals center, was convicted in April 1992 on 99 counts of sexually abusing 12 children there. He was sentenced to 12 consecutive life terms. He is currently in Central Prison at Raleigh.

Wilson, a cook at the center, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted in 1993 on five counts of sexual abuse. She was placed under house arrest while she appealed the conviction.

Attorney General Mike Easley said he will appeal to the state Supreme Court.

``The decision casts no doubt on the credibility of the children or the integrity of the investigation,'' Easley said. ``It is based only on legal technicalities.''

In Kelly's case, the appeals court said, parents improperly testified about their children's behavior resulting from sexual abuse. Such explanations are admissible only from expert witnesses, the court said.

Another error occurred when Kelly's former defense lawyer was allowed to testify against him. The lawyer, Chris Bean, withdrew as Kelly's attorney after his son accused Kelly. He shouldn't have been allowed to testify about the attorney-client relationship and its effect on Bean and his wife, the court said.

In Wilson's case, the appeals court said the judge improperly allowed cross-examination about her use of cocaine and marijuana. The testimony damaged her credibility when she testified and denied all the allegations.

Wilson's prosecutor made ``gross improprieties'' in closing arguments by referring to witnesses who weren't allowed to testify about allegations that she stole money from a friend. The prosecutor also improperly put therapists' notes into evidence during closing arguments, the court said.

Wilson said she was ``just ecstatic. It kind of restores a little bit of faith. I still have some hurdles to jump.''

Kelly will have no comment, said one of his lawyers, Mark Montgomery.

by CNB