THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 8, 1995 TAG: 9509080527
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS AND PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
Two defendants convicted of child abuse in Edenton's emotionally wrenching Little Rascals day-care cases are entitled to new trials, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Thursday in Raleigh.
In a one-page order, the state high court denied a request from the North Carolina attorney general for a review of a state appeals court order earlier this year that called for new trials in the cases of Robert F. ``Bob'' Kelly Jr. and Kathryn Dawn Wilson.
They were convicted after lurid trials involving accusations of bizarre sexual molestation of children at the day-care center.
The Court of Appeals had ruled that testimony by a parent of an alleged victim was inadmissible because the witness had once been Kelly's defense lawyer.
In Wilson's case, the court had ruled the 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 trial judge also improperly allowed cross-examination about her use of cocaine and marijuana, the appeals court said. The testimony damaged her credibility in denying all the allegations, the court said.
Kelly, 47, is serving 12 life sentences for molesting children at the Edenton day-care center he operated with his wife. Wilson, 29, a cook at the center, is serving one life sentence.
Kelly was convicted in April 1992, and Wilson was found guilty in January 1993. The trials cost the state more than $1 million and have been called the most expensive and longest in North Carolina history.
The sensational nature of some of the testimony polarized the quiet community in Chowan County and created social ruptures that have not yet mended.
In Elizabeth City late Thursday, District Attorney Frank R. Parrish said it would be ``two to four weeks'' before plans will be completed for any retrials in the Little Rascals cases.
Parrish said that Nancy Lamb, now an assistant district attorney under Parish, would ``again be lead prosecutor'' if Kelly and Wilson are retried.
Lamb was a special assistant state attorney general assigned to prosecuted the Little Rascals cases during earlier trials.
``I'm disappointed, naturally,'' Lamb said of the ruling. ``But we shall review our position in these cases and proceed as necessary.''
The earlier Little Rascals courtroom dramas were handled by special prosecutors under the state attorney general, but Parish said Thursday that he would be in charge of any new trials and that they would be held in his 1st Judicial District, which covers most of the northeastern part of the state.
``We have an understanding with the attorney general that these cases will be returned to this jurisdiction,'' Parrish said.
State Attorney General Mike Easley said: ``All prosecutors know that cases involving children weaken with age. A retrial in this matter will be extremely difficult.''
Jeffrey L. Miller, a Greenville attorney who helped Kelly in the original trial, was delighted by the Supreme Court's decision. He said it remains to be seen whether he and Tarboro lawyer W. Michael Spivey will be reappointed to defend Kelly in the new trial.
``It's not our call,'' Miller said Thursday afternoon. ``It's entirely up to the court.
``We've been preparing and hoping that that opportunity would present itself. We were always convinced of Bob's innocence,'' Miller said. ``We're absolutely convinced that Bob is entitled to a new trial and we're very hopeful that the new trial will vindicate him completely.''
Mark Montgomery, Kelly's appeal lawyer, said the next step will be a hearing before a Superior Court judge at which bond could be considered for Kelly and Wilson and attorneys would be appointed if retrials are conducted.
Seven people were charged by the time Kelly's trial started. Kelly's wife, Elizabeth, pleaded no contest in January 1994 to abuse charges and was released from prison in November 1994. Scott Privott, an acquaintance of Kelly, pleaded no contest in June 1994 and was released because of the time he had served awaiting trial without being able to make bond.
Three others - two day care workers and an Edenton woman - haven't been tried. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: Robert Kelly
Kathryn Wilson
THE LITTLE RASCALS CHRONOLOGY
January 1989. Chowan County officials begin investigating the
Little Rascals Day Care center in Edenton for possible sex abuse
after the mother of a child who attended the center raises
suspicions.
April 1989 to January 1990. Day-care co-owner Robert F. ``Bob''
Kelly Jr. and six others - including his wife, co-owner Elizabeth T.
Kelly - are charged with more than 400 counts of sexually abusing
more than 30 youngsters.
April 1992. A Pitt County jury finds Bob Kelly guilty of sexually
molesting 12 children. He is sentenced to 12 consecutive life
terms.
January 1993. Kathryn Dawn Wilson, the day-care's cook, is found
guilty of five counts of sexually abusing four children.
July 1993. The television series ``Frontline'' airs a documentary
in which three jurors in Bob Kelly's trial allege juror misconduct.
December 1993. The state Court of Appeals orders a hearing to air
allegations that one of the jurors, who worked at a state prison,
had told fellow jurors that an inmate at the prison said Kelly was a
known child molester. The judge denies Kelly another trial.
January 1994. Elizabeth Kelly pleads no contest to 30 counts of
sexually abusing children at the day-care. She is sentenced to seven
years but is given credit for the two years she spent in jail
awaiting trial. She is paroled later in the year.
June 1994. Willard Scott Privott, a golfing buddy of Bob Kelly,
pleads no contest to 34 counts of taking indecent liberties with
children. He is given credit for 3 1/2 years spent in jail awaiting
trial and receives a 10-year suspended sentence and probation.
January 1995. Attorneys for Bob Kelly and Wilson ask the North
Carolina Court of Appeals to overturn their convictions.
May 2, 1995. The court orders new trials for Kelly and Wilson.
Sept. 7, 1995. The state Supreme court upholds the order for new
trials.
KEYWORDS: ROBERT KELLY DAWN WILSON LITTLE RASCALS DAY CARE NORTH
CAROLINA SUPREME COURT CHILD ABUSE SEXUAL ABUSE by CNB