Kevin Reilly, Who Had Self Castrated, Should No Longer Be Labeled Child Predator: Jury

UPDATE, OCT. 24, 4:17 P.M.: An Orange County jury determined today that twice-convicted child molester Kevin Reilly, who had himself castrated in a bid to win freedom, is no longer a sexually violent predator and should be released from a state mental hospital.

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The 53-year-old plans to enroll in an outpatient program for sex offenders in Utah, according to his attorney, Deputy Public Defender Holly Galloway.

Covering the hearing for City News Service, Paul Anderson reports Reilly audibly sighed in relief when the finding was announced, wiped away tears from his eyes and asked a deputy for a tissue as he later sobbed. Some jurors also cried.

Juror Mike Wilson, noting the panel was initially evenly split on whether Reilly should stay committed in a mental institution, said it finally came down to the three experts who testified Reilly was no longer a sexually violent predator. “If (the prosecution) had just one doctor saying there was a high probability to re-offend it would be different,” Wilson said.

ORIGINAL POST, OCT. 16, 7:05 A.M.: “The district attorney has to prove that he cannot control the pedophilia, that is what is at issue. He had himself physically castrated so he would no longer have a sex drive. He did that on his own.”

-Deputy Public Defender Holly Galloway on Kevin Reilly, an admitted pedophile who molested children in San Diego, Tustin and Arizona in the 1980s and '90s and had himself
castrated in a bid for freedom from a state mental hospital.

In and out of jail and prison for molesting children, 53-year-old Reilly finally went away for good in 1999, being confined to state hospitals as a sexually violent predator (SVP). That's where he should remain, Deputy District Attorney Michael Carroll told jurors in Orange County this week, arguing Reilly is still a SVP.

“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,” says Carroll in a report by City News Service's Paul Anderson.

But Galloway can cite at least two experts who have evaluated Reilly and do not think he would sexually assault anymore children. As for Reilly himself, he's explained away his pedophilia by saying he “was literally out of control” back when he was actively preying on children, that “I only cared about my own gratification” and that “As I sit here today and think about it it's almost repugnant. It is repugnant.”

No argument here.

Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!

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