SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — An Orange County jury determined Friday that a twice-convicted child molester, who voluntarily had himself castrated in his bid for freedom from a state mental hospital, is no longer a sexually violent predator and should be released.

In his testimony during the civil proceeding, in which prosecutors attempted to keep him confined to a state mental hospital, Kevin Reilly struggled to explain his sexual attraction to children. He blamed his behavior on financial woes caused by living above his means.

Reilly, 53, has admitted to molesting six children, even his own daughter after he kidnapped her and took her to Arizona.

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

Reilly pleaded guilty in August 1983 to molesting 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 a 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.”

Deputy Public Defender Holly 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 told the jury. “He had himself physically castrated so he would no longer have a sex drive. He did that on his own.”

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