THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 12, 1995 TAG: 9509120286
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RALEIGH LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
Convicted child-abuser Robert Kelly Jr. vows not to return to Edenton or work with children again if he wins his freedom.
``I'll dig ditches and shovel cow manure before . . .,'' Kelly told Durham television station WTVD in an interview broadcast Monday. ``I would not put myself or my family in that situation.''
Kelly, who is serving 12 life sentences at Central Prison, is waiting to learn whether he will be retried on charges of sexually abusing children at the Edenton day care center he owned with his wife, Betsy.
The state Supreme Court issued a ruling last week that cleared the way for new trials for Kelly and Dawn Wilson, a former cook at the Little Rascals Day Care. Wilson also is serving a life sentence, under house arrest, for abusing children.
Prosecutors have not decided whether to retry Kelly and Wilson, or to dismiss the charges.
``I'm at the fork in the road, and one part of me wants to get real excited and another part realizes that if it goes down the other side of the road, we've got a long way to go,'' Kelly said.
Kelly, who was convicted in 1992, said his time in prison actually has been a blessing in disguise.
``This has been the best six years of my life, because I've learned not to take anything for granted,'' he said. ``And I've learned to appreciate, and I've really learned how to love Betsy and (daughter) Laura.'' by CNB