Kindergarten Turned Into House Of Horrors

Children As Young As Five Fed Painkillers, Forced To Perform In Sex Shows In Texas

(AP)  In the windowless front rooms of a former day care center in a tiny Texas community, children as young as 5 were fed powerful painkillers they knew as "silly pills" and forced to perform sex shows for a crowd of adults.

Two people have already been convicted in the case. Now a third person with ties to the club, previously known in town only as a swingers group, is set to go on trial Monday not far from Mineola, population 5,100.

"This really shook this town," said Shirley Chadwick, a longtime resident of Mineola. "This was horrible."

Patrick Kelly, 41, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child, tampering with physical evidence and engaging in organized criminal activity.

In all, six adults have been charged in connection with the case, including a parent of the three siblings involved.

Jurors this year deliberated less than five minutes before returning guilty verdicts against the first two defendants, who were accused of grooming the kids for sex shows in "kindergarten" classes and passing off Vicodin as "silly pills" to help the children perform.

Jamie Pittman and Shauntel Mayo were sentenced to life in prison. Kelly also faces a life sentence if convicted, and Smith County prosecutors hope for another swift verdict.

Thad Davidson, Kelly's attorney, said his client passed a lie-detector test proving his innocence and worries about getting a fair trial in Tyler, just 25 miles southeast of Mineola.

Mineola, about 80 miles east of Dallas, is a close-knit, conservative bean-processing town of with more than 30 churches. Residents there want to put the scandal behind them as quickly as possible.

The one-story building where prosecutors say four children - the three siblings, now ages 12, 10 and 7, and their 10-year-old aunt - were trained to perform in front of an audience of 50 to 100 once a week has been vacant since the landlord ousted the alleged organizers in 2004.

Down a slight hill is a retirement home, and even closer is the office of the local newspaper. Doris Newman, editor of The Mineola Monitor, said rumors of swinger parties spread around town but that no one mentioned children being involved.

Newman, who can see the building from her office window, said she remembers the parking lot filling up with more than a dozen cars at night.

In August 2004, an editorial under the headline "Sex In the City" opined that if the swingers left quietly, "we'll try and forget they've infiltrated our town with their set of moral standards."

"It's not that we're trying to look the other way," Newman said. "But there's a lot more to Mineola than that."

According to a Mineola police report, the department first investigated a complaint in June 2005 in which the siblings' foster mother said one of the girls described dancing toward men and another child saying that "everybody does nasty stuff in there."

In the second trial, Child Protective Services caseworker Kristi Hachtel testified, "I've seen a lot and I never in my wildest dreams imagined this. They were preyed upon in probably one of the most heinous ways possible."

The children are now doing better, the welfare agency said.

"Through counseling and therapy sessions, these children are now finally feeling secure and safe," agency spokeswoman Shari Pulliam wrote in an e-mail.

Permanent custody of the three siblings was given to John and Margie Cantrell. This week, prosecutors in California charged John Cantrell with sexually assaulting a child in the state 18 years ago. Margie Cantrell said her husband is innocent.

Kelly's attorney moved Friday asking to postpone the trial in light of the allegations against Cantrell, a state witness. Texas Child Protective Services said it would be "common" for the agency to investigate.

The Rev. Tim Letsch is opening a church in the yellow-plastered building where the children were abused. He acknowledges that building a congregation might be difficult because of the stigma attached to the property.

"You got to decide whether you're willing to forgive those kind of things," Letsch said. "It's a hard deal. Especially for a spiritual person to walk in and say, 'This happened here."'

[ofbyfor1]

HAVE A HEART--

My nephew, Brian, underwent his first heart transplant at the age of 6 months in 1992. Good news is that he is now 16 years old and like most boys his age, he is a HUGE baseball fan (Yankees). Bad news is that he recently (6-19-08) had to undergo a second transplant surgery. So far, everything seems to be going well.

CAN YOU DO A GOOD DEED FOR BRIAN?

We''ve been asking if there is anything we can do for Brian. It seems like there''s so little we CAN do, either for Brian or his family. The one thing we were told by his mom was that he has been hoping that John Damon is selected for the MLB All-Star Team (American League - NY Yankees - Outfield). Let''s help him out!

Put a smile on this kid''s face! Go to www.mlb.com and hit ''All-Star Game ''08 coverage-VOTE NOW'' in the upper right corner. In the window that appears, fill in your name, email, etc. and hit ''VOTE NOW''. You will see a roster of names listed by position for American League players.

''J. Damon'' is in the Outfield section, 3rd down in the left column. Leave all other positions and National League blank if you choose. Make sure you hit ''Submit Vote'' on the National Link page. You can vote up to 25 times, but all votes must be received by midnight 7-2-08.

Pass this on to your friends and THANK YOU!!!

[tbweb]

This crime is where racism goes out the window, disgusting criminals and their disgusting crimes know no race, culture or gender! Would you rather live next door to a nice member of a culture you don''t like or this disgusting dude?

[wineberry]

I cannot understand why they are wanting to build a church in the same place as these horrible acts took place. Surely another facility or piece of land could be found for the church. To place a church there seems out of character for a place of worship of the Lord.

[denn034]

Prosecute those perverts!

[patriot12436]

looks like u2playnice got sent to bed by mommy

[wineberry]

Individuals that do these kinds of things, especially to little children like these, are sick and evil. They are not even human. I don''t call them animals either because that would be an insult to the animal kingdom. Even animals are above these demented souls.

[patriot12436]

u2playnice
You come on here and start calling every one names. Why ? What is your reason ? Can you make a statement and be soecific about what you disagree with or are talking about. I find that people who call names do so because they do not have any facts to back up what they believe, are uneducated and unable to learn or express themselves in a civil manner. In your case i think all of the above apply.

[patriot12436]

u2playnice
I have a life. What is your main malfunction ?

[ubrew12]

Another reason to regret that the north won the civil war.

[providence_j]

I hate to break the news to the world? But to be born again is the only answer? What? Yes through Jesuss death and resurrection can someone come to faith to be in Gods kingdom! This is Gods almighty way period. What? End of discussion? Yes? Bottom line!

Ps. If it really matters? My father was trained my monastery monks in 1919? And his father fathers wife was name was Maria Angela Dominique Ratti! who was the pope in the 1930.s da, Ambrogio Dominique Ratti.
So you really can turn from sin and receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior through his atoning blood paid for our debt at the cross!

If its the truth well then hush and allow the truth to take care of you!

And Unless I die this truth is what you have to deal with!

CBS stop the posting of posts on the other feed!