Glendale Montessori - Toward and Little Rascals cases
old cases with updated information
Glendale Montessori - Toward case
describes crimes
Headmaster's evil lives on in 20-year-old abuse case By Jill Taylor Palm
Beach Post Staff Writer 3/1/08 Stuart - Twenty years ago today, on a quiet
street in a guard-gated Palm City community, investigators snapped handcuffs
onto
the wrists of a respected Montessori school headmaster and delivered a
message the people of Martin County did not want to hear. Little children,
lots of
little children, were raped and defiled in unspeakable ways by a man some of
the smartest and richest people in the community had trusted to care for
their sons and daughters….Hours later, Toward's office manager, Brenda
Williams,
turned herself in at the Martin County jail to answer similar charges. Four
months later, Toward was charged with molesting and kidnapping five more
preschool boys, and Williams was charged in four of those cases. Investigators
later learned of up to 60 victims, most ages 2 to 5….Toward, now 77, pleaded
guilty to molesting or kidnapping the six boys and was sentenced to 27 years
in
prison. He was released from his prison term on probation after 12 years, but
has remained in custody under the state's Jimmy Ryce Act, which allows
confinement of sex offenders deemed a continuing danger to the community.
Toward
is challenging his commitment and maintains his innocence, saying his plea was
only to avoid a harsher sentence. No date has been scheduled for a civil
trial on the issue. He did not respond to a request for an interview. Part of
Toward's plea deal prevented prosecutors from filing more charges or arresting
others they thought were involved when dozens more victims came forward later…
."We found there were literally dozens of kids who were affected by this guy
for a long time," Colton said. "He spent his life manipulating people. He
convinced people they could trust him with their children." Ralicki expects
she
will be called to testify at an upcoming Jimmy Ryce hearing. She says she
has no doubt that Toward still poses a threat to children. She can never
forget
what he did to the 20 or so children she treated….Williams pleaded no
contest to sex and attempted kidnapping charges involving five boys, and was
released from prison in 1993 after serving five years of a 10-year sentence.
She
could not be reached for comment, but is listed in records as owning a home in
Vero Beach....
The psychotherapist Jeanne Ralicki, who treated many of the victims stated
"There's this whole underbelly of evil here that just oozes...Who wants to
think that that exists in the world?"
_http://www.palmbeachpost.com/_ (http://www.palmbeachpost.com/)
Little Rascals Day Care Center case
(describes crimes)
Closing Arguments in Child-Abuse Trial By Ronald Smothers, 3/24/1992 New
York Times
Calling the operator of a day-care center who is the defendant in a child
sex-abuse case an "evil, evil man," the prosecution in the eight-month-long
case began closing arguments today, painstakingly recalling children's
testimony
that jurors had not heard since September.... Mr. Kelly, 43 years old, is
facing 100 charges of sexually abusing a dozen children in 1988 and 1989 at
the
Little Rascals Day Care Center in Edenton, N. C., 60 miles east of here.
Originally there were 248 charges involving 22 children, but the prosecution
has
withdrawn many charges while Judge D. Marsh McLelland of Pitt County
Superior Court has dismissed others. Six Others Charged - Still, the case
remains
one of the largest child sex-abuse cases in the nation's history in terms of
number of charges and alleged victims. The case also involves charges against
Mr. Kelly's wife, Elizabeth, three adult employees of the center and two other
adults. All have been accused of fondling, raping and sodomizing the
children at the center....Testifying on his own behalf in January, Mr. Kelly
said he
never touched any of the children in a sexual way....Using 8-by-10-inch
color photographs of each of the dozen children who testified, Mrs. Lamb
recounted their own childish words in testifying about what "Mr. Bob" did to
them.
The words, which were children's euphemisms for sex organs and body parts,
seemed incongruous coming from the adult prosecutor, but with repetition even
that incongruity served to highlight the horror of the allegations.
_http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/24/us/closing-arguments-in-child-abuse-trial.html_
(http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/24/us/closing-arguments-in-child-abuse-trial.html)
Man convicted in N.C. child sex abuse case M. Mayfield 4/23/92 USA TODAY
In April 1992, "Robert Kelly Jr. was convicted of 99 of 100 counts of rape
and related crimes against children." One of the mothers of the 12 children
that testified against Kelly stated that she felt "overwhelming relief." The
six other defendants, including Kelly's wife, would face trials later. The
jury
believed the children on the witness stand. One juror stated "the children
were convincing." Kelly and his supporters believed he was innocent. He was
sentenced to 12 consecutive life terms in prison. The trial "included 83
prosecution witnesses and 60 defense witnesses." The children had testified
that
Kelly had forced them to have different types of sex. The parents testified
that the children exhibited abnormal behavior. "Twelve children, between the
ages of 4 and 7, testified, and the results of physical and psychological
tests
of them were presented as evidence."
_http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1002268.html_
(http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1002268.html)
Day-Care Owner Is Convicted of Child Molesting 4/23/92 The longest and
costliest criminal trial ever held in North Carolina ended today when the
owner
of a day-care center was convicted on 99 of 100 charges of sexually abusing 12
children there. After 14 days of deliberating, a Pitt County Superior Court
jury found the 44-year-old defendant, Robert F. Kelly Jr., guilty of 4 counts
of rape, 46 of taking indecent liberties, 36 of first-degree sexual offense
and 13 crimes against nature. He was acquitted only of a single charge of
taking indecent liberties with one of the 12 children....one juror, Dennis
Ray,
did speak to reporters, saying the panel had rejected the defense's assertion
of widespread hysteria and had believed the children. "The children were
convincing," Mr. Ray said.
_http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/23/us/day-care-owner-is-convicted-of-child-molesting.html_
(http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/23/us/day-care-owner-is-convicted-of-child-molesting.html)
Six months after Betsy's release, the Appellate Court of North Carolina
overturned the convictions of both Robert Kelly and Dawn Wilson, stating that
there were legal errors by the prosecution. On May 23, 1997, the prosecution
dropped all charges related to the Little Rascals case against the two.
