Stanley Marsh, Texas millionaire owner of "Cadillac Ranch" charged with 11 counts of child molestation

By: Crimesider Staff
Topics: Daily Blotter

In this Aug. 20, 1997 photo, Stanley Marsh 3, dubbed Amarillo's eccentric millionaire, watches as workers lower into place one of the ten cadillacs that made up the "Cadillac Ranch" west of Amarillo, Texas.

/ Henry Bargas, File, AP Photo/Amarillo Globe News-Times

(CBS/AP) LUBBOCK, Texas - Stanley Marsh 3, a millionaire artist best known for his "Cadillac Ranch" art display along a Texas highway, was charged Wednesday with 11 felony counts of molesting children.

Marsh, 74, who is accused of molesting two teenagers in 2010, turned himself in to a county jail. His arrest follows the filing of several lawsuits against him for allegedly paying 10 teens for sex acts.

According to criminal complaints filed in Potter County, Marsh had the teens engage in sexual acts, including masturbation and oral sex, on three days in 2010. He is charged with six counts of child sexual assault and five counts of sexual performance by a child.

The six lawsuits claim Marsh paid the boys, ages 15 and 16, for sexual acts. One claimed that Marsh provided him drugs and alcohol, bought him two cars, and gave him money at several points during the year in sums of as much as $10,000.

Marsh's criminal attorneys, Paul Nugent and Heather Peterson of Houston, denied the charges against their client, saying in a statement that the teens in the civil cases waited until Marsh suffered a massive stroke last year to move forward with a plan "to become multimillionaires."

Marsh is known for planting 10 painted Cadillacs nose down on Interstate 40 as an art exhibit.

He was indicted on charges of indecency with a child in 1996, but the charges were eventually dismissed. That same year, Marsh acknowledged no wrongdoing in a settlement with a youth who claimed Marsh sexually abused him.

In 2001, Marsh settled four lawsuits that alleged imprisonment, sexual misconduct and harassment of teens. Marsh apologized but no other details were made public.

The most recent charges against Marsh are expected to go before a grand jury in the next few weeks, or soon after the first of the year, according to special prosecutor Matt Powell.

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by zarnon61 November 29, 2012 11:36 PM EST: Judy, you probably think Sandusky is the victim too.; Reply to this comment


by barcar55 November 29, 2012 6:12 PM EST: judymar14....did you not read that this is not the first time he was accused? Sounds like a sick old pervert to me. These teens probably waited because he was in no position to retaliate or weasel out of it this time.; Reply to this comment


by judymar14 November 29, 2012 12:58 PM EST: Creep that he is, he might be the victim. These teens knew what they were doing, get his money. After his stroke, they came to him, not the other way around.; Reply to this comment