Monday August 4, 2008

A jury has been seated in the third trial of a defendant in a Mineola, Texas case in which children as young as 5 were given narcotic pain killers they called "silly pills" and were forced to perform sex acts for a group of adults. Testimony will begin this week in the trial of Patrick Kelly, 41.

Of the seven people charged in the case, Kelly is the only one who is not related to the five children who will testify against him.

The children, four girls and a boy now ranging in ages from 7 to 15, will testify that their parents, grandparents and family friends made them take the "silly pills" and learn sex acts until they were "good enough" to perform in front of other adults at a Mineola sex club.

In two previous trials, juries deliberated less than five minutes before convicting two of the defendants. The defendant in this trial, Patrick "Booger Red" Kelly, has denied any wrongdoing.

No Adult Witnesses

His attorney, Thad Davidson of Tyler, claims that the children made up the stories, prompted by foster parents who face their own abuse allegations. Davison also points out that the case includes no physical evidence or adult eyewitnesses.

Lee Hancock, of The Dallas Morning News, has outlined a detailed account of the case in an article, "Third Trial Begins Monday in Mineola Swingers Club, Child-Sex Ring Case."
[The article can be found here: www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/
localnews/stories/080308dnmetmineola.4109607.html]

The case was first brought to the attention of the Texas Child Protective Services in 2005 by Margie Cantrell of Mineola, who is a foster mother to three of the five children.

http://crime.about.com/b/2008/08/04/jury-set-to-hear-child-sex-club-case.htm

Emphasis added by H4K Editor