Shelby County couple pleads guilty to starving, abusing adopted teenager

by Stephen Quinn

COLUMBIANA, Ala. — The Helena couple charged with starving and abusing their adopted son for nearly two years plead guilty on Monday. Richard and Cynthia Kelly were scheduled to stand trial on charges of aggravated child abuse but instead entered a blind plea of guilty according to the Shelby County District Attorney's Office.

For two years until their arrest in November 2016, prosecutors said the Kelly's kept their adopted teenage-son locked in a basement nearly 23-hours a day. The boy was forced to sleep on a box spring and was fed only one meal a deal according to an indictment.

Police began investigating after the boy was hospitalized weighing only 55 pounds. "You just struggle to wrap your head around it," said Helena Police Chief Pete Folmar in 2016. The 20-year law enforcement veteran called it one of the worst cases of neglect they had ever seen.

The Kelly's were charged with Aggravated Child Abuse, a Class B Felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Court records showed prosecutors allowed the couple instead to plea to Child Abuse, a Class C felony punishable by up to ten years in prison. The plea avoided a trial scheduled to begin Monday.

The former foster parents are scheduled to be sentenced on February 24th. Court records state they have applied for probation. The couple remains free on bond while they await sentencing.