Tyler

By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

Child Protective Services workers testified Wednesday that the sexual abuse three siblings and their young aunt endured in the "Mineola Swingers' Club" case was the "worst of the worst."

Patrick "Booger Red" Kelly, 41, Tyler, is on trial for engaging in organized criminal activity - forcing two of the siblings to have sex with each other for his financial gain - on Aug. 1, 2004. He could face five years to life in prison if convicted by the seven-woman, five-man Smith County jury in 241st District Judge Jack Skeen Jr.'s court.

The oldest of the three sibling victims, who is now 11, testified for another three hours on Wednesday. She answered questions, mostly posed by defense attorneys, for nearly six hours on Tuesday. Two foster parents and two CPS workers involved with the children also testified.

The 11-year-old girl said Kelly, whom she knows as "Booger Red," was part of a group, which included her mother, who taught her and other children how to dance and perform sex acts in "kindergarten," beginning at age 5, at Kelly's house. The children then were allegedly forced to perform sex acts at the club in Mineola for an audience and the adults made money while they children "wouldn't get fed" if they didn't perform, she said. The children were also given "silly pills" before they danced and were threatened not to tell, she said.

Defense attorney Tina Brumbelow continually repeated questions to the girl on Wednesday that she had already asked Tuesday and some of those questions were sustained by the judge.

The girl said that, after her foster mom Margie Cantrell took her to a building she was interested in buying, the girl told Mrs. Cantrell it was the same building where the children had danced. She said that was the first time she talked to Mrs. Cantrell or anyone about dancing or the "nasty stuff" they were forced to do.

The victim was asked about people she talked to at children advocacy centers in Wood and Smith counties and to Texas Ranger Phillip Kemp, who investigated the case.

She was asked by defense about acts the kids allegedly performed at the club, including her and her brother playing "doctor" and having sex with each other, an act where Jamie Pittman shot and killed her brother's dog and an act where Pittman hanged chickens.

She circled the rooms of the club where the acts and dancing took place on a diagram she drew earlier for Ranger Kemp. She said there were pictures of the children, sometimes in their costumes and sometimes nude, hanging on the walls of the club.

The victim said Kelly told her he would hang her by the tree next to his house if she ever told anyone anything. She said Kelly told her little sister he would put her in a cave if she told.

The girl said she was first afraid to tell anyone what happened to her because of Kelly, whom she is still afraid of. Ms. Brumbelow asked the girl if she understood Kelly couldn't hurt her because he was in jail and the girl said she did understand.

She said they burned videos of the children and their costumes at Kelly's house because "they didn't want to get caught."

The sexual abuse occurred four or five years ago, when the girl was 5, 6 and 7 years old, she said, adding that some things she doesn't remember.

She said she wasn't making up the story and she wasn't lying; she was telling "exactly what happened."

Julie Baker-Stokes was the foster parent of the 11-year-old girl and her younger brother for more than a month in 2005. She said the boy was very wild, didn't know how to obey, and had encopresis, meaning he was unable to control his bowel movements, which she said was unusual for a boy in kindergarten. She said his behavior gave her concern and she knew something was very wrong with the child.

Once the boy told her he wanted to watch movies with naked people in them and he said they watched him at their house all the time, she said.

She said the girl was very protective of her brother, mothered him and felt responsible for his actions. The girl was also overly mature for her age, she said.

Ms. Stokes said the siblings were fearful of having to visit their parents and that someone would come to her house. She said they were also fearful of "Booger Red" and the entire group of people allegedly involved in abusing them; she named most of the defendants in the case and said the kids had told her their names. The children also didn't want their bedroom doors closed and begged her not to make them take baths.

Ms. Stokes said the decision that the children would be better off at a different home was one of the hardest decisions she's ever had to make, but she was thinking of their best interests.

Jeff Howard became a foster parent to the two siblings in March 2005 and had them for about two months. He also talked of the boy's encopresis, which could be a sign of sexual or physical abuse or neglect. He said he was aggressive and had anger issues; he assaulted his wife and a teacher and stabbed a girl at school with a pen. He said they knew something was wrong with the children, they just didn't know what.

Howard said he was aware the boy was also diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder.

Howard requested that the boy go to a facility and get counseling, then be returned to their home, but CPS removed both children.

Amy McDonald, a CPS investigator, said she went to the home of Shauntel Mayo and Jamie Pittman to visit and meet the family because she was handling their case of reported neglect and drug abuse. She said she did not go to their house on March 7, 2005, to remove the children; but, after several things that she detailed happened, she took them into custody.

Ms. McDonald placed the children, ages 7 and 6, with a foster parent near Texarkana, but picked them up the next day to move them to a closer home. On the trip, she said the two got into an argument, and the girl told her brother to "shut up, you're only going to make it worser."

She also talked of the two siblings' behaviors and said the boy acted out sexually to another boy in one of the foster homes he lived in.

She said the kids never made allegations of sexual abuse when she was involved in the case; she was taken off the case for a few weeks after the kids were placed in foster care.

Ms. McDonald said she didn't believe the kids were making false allegations and she believed they were telling the truth. She said there was no doubt in her mind about Kelly being guilty.

When asked how she would rank the extent of the child abuse in the case, she said it was "the worst of the worst."

CPS case worker Alexia Hunter said the youngest of the three siblings, who was living with Sheila Sones, was taken by foster care in September 2005 when she made an outcry consistent with her siblings'. She had no contact with her brother and sister since March 2005, she said. Ms. Hunter said the girl was then placed with her siblings, who had been in the care of Margie and John Cantrell since May 2005.

She said the kids were put in the Cantrell home because the foster parents had worked and been successful with difficult children before and they were able to give intense supervision. In the Cantrell home, the children sexually acted out, which gave her concern, she said.

She said the oldest sibling has told her what the children were forced to do and she believed it was a continuing pattern of sexual abuse perpetrated by Kelly and the other defendants. She said on a scale of one to 10, she would place the abuse at a 10.

Ms. Hunter said the siblings' aunt also told what happened to her, which was consistent with the other children although she had no contact with them since they were removed.

When questioned by defense attorney Thad David-son, Ms. Hunter said she didn't witness the sexual abuse and no adults told her they saw it. She said she believes the majority of adults are appalled at children being sexually abused and she would like to believe an adult would report it if they saw it. She said she was disappointed no one came forward about seeing the abuse at the club, but she wasn't surprised.

She said that, although no adults came forward, five kids did and they have firsthand knowledge about what happened to them.

Ms. Hunter was aware Mineola police investigated the case and found nothing, but, she said, they opened and closed the investigation in 24 hours, so her opinion that the children were sexually abused was still the same.

The trial will resume Thursday with witnesses called by assistant Smith County district attorneys Joe Murphy and Jason Parrish.

The victims in the case are the 11-year-old girl, her 9-year-old brother and her 7-year-old sister, as well as their 10-year-old aunt. A 15-year-old daughter of one of the co-defendants was also allegedly sexually abused.

Although the club is in Wood County, the defendants were charged in Smith County because they lived here and reportedly held "kindergarten" at their houses. Prosecutors claim the offenses began and ended in Smith County when the children left and returned to the homes.

Ms. Mayo and Jamie Pittman have been convicted and sentenced to life in prison and face additional charges. Dennis Boyd Pittman, Rebecca Pittman, Shelia Darlene Sones and Jimmy Dale Sones, await trials.