By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 39-year-old man, who was arrested in Portland, Texas, has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing a young girl while he was living in her Stillwater home and possessing child pornography of another girl who called him a monster at his sentencing hearing last week.
Payne County Associate District Judge Michael Kulling gave Kelly Leon Rowe three concurrent 25-year prison terms for abusing and exploiting one girl between the ages of 10 and 13 plus a consecutive seven-year prison term for possessing child pornography of another girl when she was 14 to 15.
“The defendant pled guilty to very serious crimes. This was a calculated, purposeful matter. He inserted himself to form relationships with the victims. I heard him say he still loves everybody,” added the judge, who appeared astonished by the cavalier statement, and noted, “Mr. Rowe is a definite threat to the community.”
Prosecutor Debra Vincent said in court, “He’s shown himself to be a sexual predator,” who deserved a life sentence and urged the judge to give Rowe at least 50 years in prison. “He worked his way into two separate households in our county. This defendant took advantage of the family. Their daughter was just 10 years old. He took photos and videos. In the pre-sentencing investigation, he seemed to say he did nothing wrong.”
Defense attorney Royce Hobbs said, “I’m asking this court to give him hope. I’m asking this court for 25 years — 15 in and 10 on probation. It’s obvious he has a problem. This court knows treatment for sexual problems is not existent in DOC. A split sentence requires treatment on release. If Mr. Rowe were ever to be released, he would be a lifetime registered sex offender.”
In a victim impact statement read in court by the prosecutor, the younger girl wrote, “Ever since Kelly moved into my home, I wanted him gone. I can’t trust people. He did sexual things to me he shouldn’t have done.” Her mother’s statement was read in court by Stillwater Police Detective Mary Kellison; the mother wrote, “I don’t know how to express the anger I feel for Mr. Rowe. Kelly has betrayed my family, my home. I’m hoping he’s put away for a long time.”
Another victim, whose uncovered images were found on Rowe’s cell phone, spoke so softly that it was difficult to hear what she said, except “he’s an all-around monster. He deserves the longest sentence possible.”
When the younger girl, who was sexually abused in her Stillwater home, was interviewed at the Saville Center on Oct. 26, 2023, she said, “Kelly was no longer living with them as of yesterday when she told her mom what he had been doing,” Detective Kellison wrote in her affidavit.
She said, “Kelly Rowe, a guy who used to live with us,” had touched her, the affidavit said. She said, “Kelly comes into her room all day, every day, trying to show her videos,” the affidavit said. She said, “she tried to lock her door to keep Kelly from coming into her room, and he would somehow unlock the door to gain access to her bedroom,” the affidavit said. Describing an incident, she said, “no one else was in the house at the time that this occurred,” the affidavit said.
