Listen to The Children

A North Carolina day-care operator draws 12 life terms for sex abuse

THE CHILDREN SPOKE SOLEMNLY OF SODOMY, ANImal sacrifice, fire and snakes. One boy claimed that Robert Kelly Jr., who operated the Little Rascals day-care center in Edenton, N.C., prayed to the devil. A girl said Kelly, the balding former golf pro they called Mr. Bob, raped and drugged her, then photographed her performing sexual acts with another child. Another boy said Mr. Bob took the children on a boat trip and pushed him overboard to the sharks.

Though some of the children's tales verged on the fantastic, their testimony proved strong enough to convict Kelly, 44, on 99 counts of sexually...

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