Posted on
Friday, August 22, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
'Booger Red' Kelly Sentenced To Life In Mineola Swingers' Club Trial
EDITOR'S NOTE: The names of the victims are not revealed to protect their identity and encourage the reporting of such crimes.
By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer
Patrick "Booger Red" Kelly was found guilty Thursday of engaging in organized criminal activity and sentenced to life in prison for conspiring with other adults to force two young siblings to have sex with each other for a paying audience.
A Smith County jury of seven women and five men deliberated for less than two hours before convicting Kelly, 41, Tyler, of the first-degree felony for forcing a boy to have sex with his older sister during a doctor skit at the Mineola Swingers' Club for his financial gain on Aug. 1, 2004.
He was sentenced to the maximum sentence of life in prison and a $10,000 fine by the jury in 241st District Judge Jack Skeen Jr.'s court after about 10 minutes of deliberation.
Kelly stood stone-faced while the verdict was read in a packed courtroom. He was eligible for probation and will have to serve 15 years in prison before he is eligible for parole. His defense attorneys did not say whether they intended to appeal the verdict.
The 11-year-old victim in the case gave a brief victim impact statement. "You did it to me and my friends, so I think you need to go to your prison cell and think very long and get to know God. That's all I have to say," she said.
The victims in the case include the now 11-year-old girl, her 9-year-old brother and 8-year-old sister; the siblings' 10-year-old aunt; and a 15-year-old girl.
Four of the five child victims in the case also testified. All of them identified Kelly, whom they know as "Booger Red," as being part of a group of adults that taught them in "kindergarten" how to perform sex acts and then forced them to dance and perform for a paying audience at the club.
Kelly testified, denying he sexually abused the children or ever went to the club. He said he never held "kindergarten" at his house and never forced them to dance or perform sex acts.
In closing arguments Thursday, Assistant Smith County District Attorney Joe Murphy said what the jurors heard was pure evil and Kelly and the other defendants did the worst thing they could to those kids.
"They violated them for their own monetary gain," he said. "That evil is Patrick 'Booger Red' Kelly. That evil is Sheila Sones, Jimmy Sones; it's Dennis Pittman; it's Jamie Pittman and it's Shauntel Mayo. They forced those children to live what we can't describe."
Murphy said the four children who testified were four of the bravest people he's ever met. At the age of 5, the children learned that life is not fair, you can't pick your parents and there is pure evil in this world.
He said the case boiled down to who the jurors believed and asked if they believed the children. He said the defense wanted the jurors to believe a bunch of swingers and a man named David with a bunch of tattoos, which one of the victims described as being at the club, as well as the defense expert who didn't look at all of the evidence in the case.
Murphy said another of the defense's theories was that the case was a conspiracy with the Texas Ranger, Child Protective Services, the foster parents, therapists and the children. He said Mineola police did a one-day investigation and then shut the case. Texas Ranger Sgt.
Philip Kemp got involved because no one else would, he said. He said the case was in Smith County because they are "our" children and Kemp did not give up on them.
Another theme of the defense was "let's blame everyone else" Murphy said.
Kelly didn't contest the allegations of sexual abuse when CPS took his son away, he said. His son told CPS he wasn't supposed to talk to them about the "dancing and sex," he added.
"Sometimes this turned into an absolute circus," he said of the three-week trial. "Somewhere in all of that, four little kids got lost again."
Murphy said the swingers testified that kids weren't at the club the four or five nights they were there out of four months it was in operation in 2004. He said the state never said the swingers were there watching the kids, but he didn't think they were being completely truthful.
Like Kelly, "no one is going to stand up and say yes, I did this," he said.
The next theory in the defense's case is the children lied, Murphy said, adding that the defense claimed they were coached what to say.
Murphy detailed instances, beginning the first day they were taken away by CPS, in which the kids said things or acted out in ways he said were signs of sexual abuse.
Two of the children told one of their first foster moms they were scared of "Booger Red." Murphy asked the jurors to remember that the kids were threatened.
The children had no contact with each other when they began to make their outcries of sexual abuse; each saying the exact same thing happened to them, he said.
"Why is it that every little kid he (Kelly) comes in contact with gets broken? I'll tell you why; he breaks them," he said.
DEFENSE
"I believe we have shown that my client is absolutely innocent of the charges against him," defense attorney Thad Davidson said.
He said two of the sibling victims never mentioned kindergarten, the swingers' club or being sexually abused to their first three sets of foster parents. The allegations surfaced after they got to the home of Margie and John Cantrell, who now have permanent custody of them.
He said the children never identified Kelly in a photo-lineup and never mentioned his name during interviews by Kemp. One victim gave a description of "Booger Red" as having white hair when he has distinctive red hair, he added.
Davidson said the state would like the jurors to believe that the case was about emotion but, he said, the case was about facts, logic and common sense.
He said there was no evidence that a dog or chickens were killed at the club, as the children claimed, as well as no evidence that Kelly choked a woman in his yard. He said there was no evidence because it didn't happen. He said Kemp did not take forensic teams to the club or Kelly's house as he should have to look for evidence.
"I am not telling you these kids are liars, I think these kids believe what they're saying," he said. Children can be coached and memories put in their heads that don't exist can become real to them, Davidson said. He said the Cantrells coached the kids.
"We found eight swingers" that testified that the club was open Friday and Saturday nights and the only people with keys to the building were Russ and Sherry Adams.
He said one of the rules of the swingers' club was that no children were ever allowed; it was only consenting adults who were not pedophiles. The swingers testified they had never seen Kelly before.
Davidson said the only one who did a thorough investigation in the case and went to Kelly's house was not Kemp, it was CPS Investigator Katy Wady. She found no evidence that Kelly sexually abused his son or the children victims in the case, he said.
Davidson said being a Texas Ranger is prestigious, but he was not qualified as an expert in sexual abuse cases. The techniques Kemp used when interviewing the children were improper because Ms. Cantrell was in the room in some of them.
The boy said 13 times he didn't know what they were talking about when questioned.
"That means it didn't happen," he said. "This man (Kelly) has never been to the Mineola Swingers' Club."
He said during psychological evaluations of some of the children, they never mentioned the name Kelly or "Booger Red." Months later, they made outcries and destroyed their parents and the Cantrells got permanent custody of the kids.
He said Murphy liked to dump on Mineola police, but if Kemp investigated the case for two years, why didn't he find any swingers?
Mineola police found six in one day, he said.
Davidson said he believed bad things happened to two of the sibling victims in the case because they had bad parents — Shauntel Mayo and Jamie Pittman — but Kelly never abused them.
"Every single allegation the state made we have disproven," he said.
PROSECUTION
"Basically, what they want you to do … is believe that none of this ever happened," Murphy said, adding that the defense wanted the jurors to blame Kemp and Mrs. Cantrell.
"The ones who should have been treating these children were abusing them; the ones who should have been protecting them were molesting them," Murphy said.
He asked the jurors to look at all of the evidence; not bits and pieces of it.
"The interviews (of the children) speak for themselves," he said. "You decide."
He said there was no evidence of the abuse because the defendants burned it.
"From the mouths of children you heard hours … and they never flinched. To say that they are coached is to say that they are lying,"
Murphy said. "To say that they are lying, is to say that nothing ever happened to them."
He said to say that nothing happened to the children was to say that the boy didn't soil his pants and all of the children didn't sexually act out or that they weren't afraid of Kelly.
"Those little kids told you who did it … every little hand stretched out and pointed to 'Booger Red.'"
He said the offenses happened 18 months before the proper law enforcement agency investigated the case and although the Davidson said Kemp did a terrible job, Kemp was the only one who would do anything.
He said one of the greatest fears of the children is that no one would believe them. He asked the jurors to find Kelly guilty, stop the abuse and tell the children they believe them.
PUNISHMENT
The punishment trial lasted less than two hours, including closing arguments.
Dr. Gayle Burress, a forensic counselor hired by the state, said the abuse the children endured is something they will never forget and it will affect them for the rest of their lives.
"It will shape aspects of their lives for all of their lives," she said.
She said no one can say whether a person will commit a crime again, but sex offenders have a higher rate of recidivism than other criminals. She said if a person can exploit a child for their own monetary gain, it means they don't care about the children. That absence of feeling will cause them to more likely re-offend. She said the only way to guarantee that someone won't do it again is to take away their target population.
Kelly's wife Rose Kelly, mother Linda Kelly, niece April Corrao and, stepdaughter Mary Allen each said the defendant, who works for a paint and body shop, is a hard worker, a family man and a good father. They said he has a lot of friends and family who will continue to love and support him.
Linda Kelly said her son had a good childhood, never got in trouble and was never abused.
When asked by Murphy, Ms. Allen denied telling a CASA (court appointed special advocate) in March 2007 that Kelly and her mother fought all the time and Kelly beat her. She also denied saying Kelly and Mrs.
Kelly would lock the kids out of the house while they were with other adults inside. She said whoever said that was lying.
During closing arguments, Murphy said Kelly was eligible for probation but not deserving of it.
"What's right in this case is a life sentence and a $10,000 fine," he said. "He gave five (life sentences). He deserves one."
Davidson said Kelly has never been in trouble before.
"You've accused him and convicted him of horrible things but people can change … people do change," he told the jurors.
He asked the jurors to sentence his client to probation.
Shauntel Mayo and her live-in boyfriend, Jamie Pittman, have been convicted and sentenced to life in prison and face additional charges in the case. Dennis Pittman, his ex-wife Rebecca Pittman, Shelia Darlene Sones, who is Ms. Mayo's mother, and Ms. Sones' ex-husband Jimmy Dale Sones await trials for the alleged sexual abuse of the children.
EARLIER DETAILS
From Staff and Wire Reports
Jurors sentenced a 41-year-old auto body shop worker to life in prison after convicting him of grooming children as young as 5 to perform in sex shows at a small-town swingers club.
Jurors took about 15 minutes this afternoon to decide on the sentence for Patrick "Booger Red" Kelly.
Prosecutors had pushed for the life sentence. Defense attorneys sought a suspended sentence of less than 10 years so Kelly could be placed probation.
Kelly showed no emotion after the verdict was read earlier Thursday. Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding him guilty of engaging in organized criminal activity.
Prosecutors alleged Kelly was a member of the so-called Mineola Swinger's Club, though Kelly has testified he is innocent. They contended Kelly helped set up a "kindergarten" where young children learned to dance provocatively. To help perform at the club, prosecutors say the children were given Vicodin-like drugs the adults passed off as "silly pills."
Earlier this afternoon, after less than two hours of deliberation, Kelly was convicted of engaging in organized criminal activity for conspiring with other adults to force two young siblings to have sex with each other for a paying audience.
By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer
Patrick "Booger Red" Kelly was found guilty Thursday of engaging in organized criminal activity and sentenced to life in prison for conspiring with other adults to force two young siblings to have sex with each other for a paying audience.
A Smith County jury of seven women and five men deliberated for less than two hours before convicting Kelly, 41, Tyler, of the first-degree felony for forcing a boy to have sex with his older sister during a doctor skit at the Mineola Swingers' Club for his financial gain on Aug. 1, 2004.
He was sentenced to the maximum sentence of life in prison and a $10,000 fine by the jury in 241st District Judge Jack Skeen Jr.'s court after about 10 minutes of deliberation.
Kelly stood stone-faced while the verdict was read in a packed courtroom. He was eligible for probation and will have to serve 15 years in prison before he is eligible for parole. His defense attorneys did not say whether they intended to appeal the verdict.
The 11-year-old victim in the case gave a brief victim impact statement. "You did it to me and my friends, so I think you need to go to your prison cell and think very long and get to know God. That's all I have to say," she said.
The victims in the case include the now 11-year-old girl, her 9-year-old brother and 8-year-old sister; the siblings' 10-year-old aunt; and a 15-year-old girl.
Four of the five child victims in the case also testified. All of them identified Kelly, whom they know as "Booger Red," as being part of a group of adults that taught them in "kindergarten" how to perform sex acts and then forced them to dance and perform for a paying audience at the club.
Kelly testified, denying he sexually abused the children or ever went to the club. He said he never held "kindergarten" at his house and never forced them to dance or perform sex acts.
In closing arguments Thursday, Assistant Smith County District Attorney Joe Murphy said what the jurors heard was pure evil and Kelly and the other defendants did the worst thing they could to those kids.
"They violated them for their own monetary gain," he said. "That evil is Patrick 'Booger Red' Kelly. That evil is Sheila Sones, Jimmy Sones; it's Dennis Pittman; it's Jamie Pittman and it's Shauntel Mayo. They forced those children to live what we can't describe."
Murphy said the four children who testified were four of the bravest people he's ever met. At the age of 5, the children learned that life is not fair, you can't pick your parents and there is pure evil in this world.
He said the case boiled down to who the jurors believed and asked if they believed the children. He said the defense wanted the jurors to believe a bunch of swingers and a man named David with a bunch of tattoos, which one of the victims described as being at the club, as well as the defense expert who didn't look at all of the evidence in the case.
Murphy said another of the defense's theories was that the case was a conspiracy with the Texas Ranger, Child Protective Services, the foster parents, therapists and the children. He said Mineola police did a one-day investigation and then shut the case. Texas Ranger Sgt.
Philip Kemp got involved because no one else would, he said. He said the case was in Smith County because they are "our" children and Kemp did not give up on them.
Another theme of the defense was "let's blame everyone else" Murphy said.
Kelly didn't contest the allegations of sexual abuse when CPS took his son away, he said. His son told CPS he wasn't supposed to talk to them about the "dancing and sex," he added.
"Sometimes this turned into an absolute circus," he said of the three-week trial. "Somewhere in all of that, four little kids got lost again."
Murphy said the swingers testified that kids weren't at the club the four or five nights they were there out of four months it was in operation in 2004. He said the state never said the swingers were there watching the kids, but he didn't think they were being completely truthful.
Like Kelly, "no one is going to stand up and say yes, I did this," he said.
The next theory in the defense's case is the children lied, Murphy said, adding that the defense claimed they were coached what to say.
Murphy detailed instances, beginning the first day they were taken away by CPS, in which the kids said things or acted out in ways he said were signs of sexual abuse.
Two of the children told one of their first foster moms they were scared of "Booger Red." Murphy asked the jurors to remember that the kids were threatened.
The children had no contact with each other when they began to make their outcries of sexual abuse; each saying the exact same thing happened to them, he said.
"Why is it that every little kid he (Kelly) comes in contact with gets broken? I'll tell you why; he breaks them," he said.
DEFENSE
"I believe we have shown that my client is absolutely innocent of the charges against him," defense attorney Thad Davidson said.
He said two of the sibling victims never mentioned kindergarten, the swingers' club or being sexually abused to their first three sets of foster parents. The allegations surfaced after they got to the home of Margie and John Cantrell, who now have permanent custody of them.
He said the children never identified Kelly in a photo-lineup and never mentioned his name during interviews by Kemp. One victim gave a description of "Booger Red" as having white hair when he has distinctive red hair, he added.
Davidson said the state would like the jurors to believe that the case was about emotion but, he said, the case was about facts, logic and common sense.
He said there was no evidence that a dog or chickens were killed at the club, as the children claimed, as well as no evidence that Kelly choked a woman in his yard. He said there was no evidence because it didn't happen. He said Kemp did not take forensic teams to the club or Kelly's house as he should have to look for evidence.
"I am not telling you these kids are liars, I think these kids believe what they're saying," he said. Children can be coached and memories put in their heads that don't exist can become real to them, Davidson said. He said the Cantrells coached the kids.
"We found eight swingers" that testified that the club was open Friday and Saturday nights and the only people with keys to the building were Russ and Sherry Adams.
He said one of the rules of the swingers' club was that no children were ever allowed; it was only consenting adults who were not pedophiles. The swingers testified they had never seen Kelly before.
Davidson said the only one who did a thorough investigation in the case and went to Kelly's house was not Kemp, it was CPS Investigator Katy Wady. She found no evidence that Kelly sexually abused his son or the children victims in the case, he said.
Davidson said being a Texas Ranger is prestigious, but he was not qualified as an expert in sexual abuse cases. The techniques Kemp used when interviewing the children were improper because Ms. Cantrell was in the room in some of them.
The boy said 13 times he didn't know what they were talking about when questioned.
"That means it didn't happen," he said. "This man (Kelly) has never been to the Mineola Swingers' Club."
He said during psychological evaluations of some of the children, they never mentioned the name Kelly or "Booger Red." Months later, they made outcries and destroyed their parents and the Cantrells got permanent custody of the kids.
He said Murphy liked to dump on Mineola police, but if Kemp investigated the case for two years, why didn't he find any swingers?
Mineola police found six in one day, he said.
Davidson said he believed bad things happened to two of the sibling victims in the case because they had bad parents — Shauntel Mayo and Jamie Pittman — but Kelly never abused them.
"Every single allegation the state made we have disproven," he said.
PROSECUTION
"Basically, what they want you to do … is believe that none of this ever happened," Murphy said, adding that the defense wanted the jurors to blame Kemp and Mrs. Cantrell.
"The ones who should have been treating these children were abusing them; the ones who should have been protecting them were molesting them," Murphy said.
He asked the jurors to look at all of the evidence; not bits and pieces of it.
"The interviews (of the children) speak for themselves," he said. "You decide."
He said there was no evidence of the abuse because the defendants burned it.
"From the mouths of children you heard hours … and they never flinched. To say that they are coached is to say that they are lying,"
Murphy said. "To say that they are lying, is to say that nothing ever happened to them."
He said to say that nothing happened to the children was to say that the boy didn't soil his pants and all of the children didn't sexually act out or that they weren't afraid of Kelly.
"Those little kids told you who did it … every little hand stretched out and pointed to 'Booger Red.'"
He said the offenses happened 18 months before the proper law enforcement agency investigated the case and although the Davidson said Kemp did a terrible job, Kemp was the only one who would do anything.
He said one of the greatest fears of the children is that no one would believe them. He asked the jurors to find Kelly guilty, stop the abuse and tell the children they believe them.
PUNISHMENT
The punishment trial lasted less than two hours, including closing arguments.
Dr. Gayle Burress, a forensic counselor hired by the state, said the abuse the children endured is something they will never forget and it will affect them for the rest of their lives.
"It will shape aspects of their lives for all of their lives," she said.
She said no one can say whether a person will commit a crime again, but sex offenders have a higher rate of recidivism than other criminals. She said if a person can exploit a child for their own monetary gain, it means they don't care about the children. That absence of feeling will cause them to more likely re-offend. She said the only way to guarantee that someone won't do it again is to take away their target population.
Kelly's wife Rose Kelly, mother Linda Kelly, niece April Corrao and, stepdaughter Mary Allen each said the defendant, who works for a paint and body shop, is a hard worker, a family man and a good father. They said he has a lot of friends and family who will continue to love and support him.
Linda Kelly said her son had a good childhood, never got in trouble and was never abused.
When asked by Murphy, Ms. Allen denied telling a CASA (court appointed special advocate) in March 2007 that Kelly and her mother fought all the time and Kelly beat her. She also denied saying Kelly and Mrs.
Kelly would lock the kids out of the house while they were with other adults inside. She said whoever said that was lying.
During closing arguments, Murphy said Kelly was eligible for probation but not deserving of it.
"What's right in this case is a life sentence and a $10,000 fine," he said. "He gave five (life sentences). He deserves one."
Davidson said Kelly has never been in trouble before.
"You've accused him and convicted him of horrible things but people can change … people do change," he told the jurors.
He asked the jurors to sentence his client to probation.
Shauntel Mayo and her live-in boyfriend, Jamie Pittman, have been convicted and sentenced to life in prison and face additional charges in the case. Dennis Pittman, his ex-wife Rebecca Pittman, Shelia Darlene Sones, who is Ms. Mayo's mother, and Ms. Sones' ex-husband Jimmy Dale Sones await trials for the alleged sexual abuse of the children.
EARLIER DETAILS
From Staff and Wire Reports
Jurors sentenced a 41-year-old auto body shop worker to life in prison after convicting him of grooming children as young as 5 to perform in sex shows at a small-town swingers club.
Jurors took about 15 minutes this afternoon to decide on the sentence for Patrick "Booger Red" Kelly.
Prosecutors had pushed for the life sentence. Defense attorneys sought a suspended sentence of less than 10 years so Kelly could be placed probation.
Kelly showed no emotion after the verdict was read earlier Thursday. Jurors deliberated about two hours before finding him guilty of engaging in organized criminal activity.
Prosecutors alleged Kelly was a member of the so-called Mineola Swinger's Club, though Kelly has testified he is innocent. They contended Kelly helped set up a "kindergarten" where young children learned to dance provocatively. To help perform at the club, prosecutors say the children were given Vicodin-like drugs the adults passed off as "silly pills."
Earlier this afternoon, after less than two hours of deliberation, Kelly was convicted of engaging in organized criminal activity for conspiring with other adults to force two young siblings to have sex with each other for a paying audience.
Kelly, 41, Tyler, was convicted of forcing a boy to have sex with his older sister during a doctor skit at the Mineola Swingers' Club for Kelly's financial gain on Aug. 1, 2004. He faces five years to life in prison. The jury in 241st District Judge Jack Skeen Jr.'s court immediately began hearing evidence in the punishment trial after returning their verdict.
The victims in the case include a now 11-year-old girl, her 9-year-old brother and 8-year-old sister; the siblings' 10-year-old aunt; and a 15-year-old girl.
Defense attorney Thad Davidson puts his arm on his client, Patrick Kelly.
Kelly and his co-defendants are being tried in Smith County because they lived in Smith County and the children were allegedly taught how to perform the sex acts at "kindergarten," which was allegedly held at the house of Kelly and other defendants. Prosecutors also claim when the children were sexually abused at the club in Mineola, the offenses began and ended in Smith County, then they left and returned to their homes.
Kelly testified in the trial, denying he sexually abused children or ever went to the club. He said he never held "kindergarten" at his house and never forced them to dance for an audience, as the children claimed.
Four of the five child victims in the case have also testified. All of them identified Kelly, whom they know as "Booger Red," as being part of a group of adults that forced them to perform sex acts for a paying audience.
Shauntel Mayo and her live-in boyfriend, Jamie Pittman, have been convicted and sentenced to life in prison and face additional charges in the case. Dennis Pittman, his ex-wife Rebecca Pittman, Shelia Darlene Sones, who is Ms. Mayo's mother, and Ms. Sones' ex-husband Jimmy Dale Sones await trials for the alleged sexual abuse of the children.
Updated Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 7:21 p.m. CDT
Kelly testified in the trial, denying he sexually abused children or ever went to the club. He said he never held "kindergarten" at his house and never forced them to dance for an audience, as the children claimed.
Four of the five child victims in the case have also testified. All of them identified Kelly, whom they know as "Booger Red," as being part of a group of adults that forced them to perform sex acts for a paying audience.
Shauntel Mayo and her live-in boyfriend, Jamie Pittman, have been convicted and sentenced to life in prison and face additional charges in the case. Dennis Pittman, his ex-wife Rebecca Pittman, Shelia Darlene Sones, who is Ms. Mayo's mother, and Ms. Sones' ex-husband Jimmy Dale Sones await trials for the alleged sexual abuse of the children.
Updated Thursday, August 21, 2008 at 7:21 p.m. CDT
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