O.C. Pedophile on Trial to See if He Should Be Confined to Mental Hospital

By PAUL ANDERSON
City News Service

A twice-convicted child molester who had himself castrated in his bid for freedom from a state mental hospital testified today that he struggles to explain his sexual attraction to children, and he blamed his behavior on financial woes caused by living above his means.

Asked why he molested his first victim, a 4-year-old girl who attended a San Diego daycare business he operated with his then-wife in March 1982, Kevin Reilly replied, “I don’t know if I can answer that question. At that point in time I was literally out of control.”

Opening a trial to determine if Reilly, 53, should confined indefinitely in a state mental institution, Deputy District Attorney Michael Carroll told jurors the defendant remains a sexually violent predator. Deputy Public Defender Holly Galloway, however, said experts will testify that Reilly no longer meets the criteria of a sexually violent predator and should be released from custody.

Reilly was arrested and spent a day in jail for the molestation of the 4- year-old girl, but her parents declined to press charges. He and his wife later moved to a Tustin condominium to save money, Reilly testified.

Reilly lured his next victim into his apartment with the promise of a soda.

“It’s really hard to put into words,” Reilly said when asked why he found the young girl sexually attractive. “The fact that it was easy, she wasn’t going to tell and I only cared about my own gratification.”

Reilly and the girl engaged in “horse play” before he tried to convince her to take off her bathing suit, he testified.

“We started to wrestle and that’s when I made the comment, ‘You have a hole in your bathing suit. I can fix it,’ “ Reilly testified. “She said, ‘No, I don’t. You have a wife.”’

Reilly molested another 4-year-old girl he met by the condo complex’s pool.

“I can’t explain the sexual component,” Reilly replied. “It’s illogical. As I sit here today and think about it it’s almost repugnant. It is repugnant.”

Reilly said he had a job with a collection agency, but he was “living beyond my means,” and was stressed out about it. He said he lied to his neighbors, telling them he was a police officer in hopes of gaining their trust and easier access to their children.

About a week after molesting the second girl in Tustin, Reilly was arrested, but he posted bail in December 1982, he testified. In March of 1983, Reilly kidnapped his 2-year-old daughter and took her to Mesa, Ariz., where he again told neighbors he was a police officer, he testified.

While living in Arizona under a phony name, Reilly molested his own daughter, saying he felt he could easily get away with it.

Over Easter weekend in 1983, Reilly molested another 4-year-old girl in Arizona as well as her older 8-year-old brother, he testified. Reilly said he was not typically attracted to boys.

“I think it could have been anybody at this point,” Reilly testified. “It just shows how out of control I was at the time.”

Reilly pleaded guilty in August 1983 to molesting the two Tustin girls and kidnapping his daughter and was sentenced to three years in prison. He was sentenced to eight years in prison in Arizona for molesting the 4-year-old girl and her 8-year-old brother.

After Reilly’s release from prison, he was living with a new wife and their 4-year-old daughter, who he also molested, Carroll said. He was convicted in 1999 and sentenced to another three years in prison, but before he could be paroled, Orange County prosecutors filed a sexually violent predator petition against him.

In 2003, Reilly underwent a voluntary castration and has been treated for his pedophilia, Carroll said.

Although at least two experts who have evaluated Reilly do not think he would sexually assault anymore children, Carroll said, “He still has sexual thoughts of pre-pubescent girls. ... He is not honest, he is not transparent and he continues to manipulate. The evidence is going to show he is still a sexually violent predator.”

Galloway said everyone agrees Reilly is a pedophile, but it’s debatable whether he would re-offend.

“The district attorney has to prove that he cannot control the pedophilia, that is what is at issue,” Galloway said. “He had himself physically castrated so he would no longer have a sex drive. He did that on his own.”

PHOTO Image via Shutterstock.

COMMENT ON THIS STORY BY SCROLLING TO FIND THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW.

Wondering how our new commenting platform, Disqus, works? Learn more about it here and start interacting with your neighbors on Patch.