A 40-year-old Olympia, Washington man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison after a Clackamas County jury convicted him of sexually abusing a 3-year-old girl he was babysitting in Molalla. Thomas Irvin Kelly was found guilty of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration and first-degree unlawful sexual abuse stemming from an incident in July 2023, and he had no prior criminal history before the case.
According to KATU, the Clackamas County District Attorney's Office said the charges trace back to that July 2023 incident, which came to light after the child reported what happened to her daycare provider.
As reported by KGW, a Clackamas County grand jury returned a secret indictment against Kelly in February 2025, nearly two years after the assault occurred.
Vertical Prosecution and a Forensic Interview Team
The prosecution was led by Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Wareham Portlock, the same account notes, reflecting the county's use of vertical prosecution for serious felony person crimes. The Clackamas County District Attorney's Office assigns a single deputy district attorney to handle major person-crime cases continuously from charging through trial and sentencing, a strategy designed to support child victims and preserve continuity across a case that can stretch on for years.
According to Clackamas County documentation, the Children's Center, an accredited non-profit child advocacy center in Oregon City, conducts specialized forensic interviews and medical assessments for young victims.
No Parole Under Jessica's Law
Kelly's 300-month sentence was mandated specifically by his conviction on first-degree unlawful sexual penetration against a child under 12, KGW's report notes. The applicable statute is Oregon's Jessica's Law, according to the Oregon Public Defense Services Commission.
Kelly's sentence under Jessica's Law is 300 months, per the Oregon Coast Breaking News summary of the statute. That amounts to 25 years in prison.
A Pattern of Jessica's Law Cases in the County
Kelly's conviction is not the county's first Jessica's Law case out of Molalla in recent memory. Just last November, Clackamas County prosecutors secured a conviction against 32-year-old Colby Alen Greer, also of Molalla, who faced the same mandatory 25-year sentence after a jury found him guilty of first-degree unlawful sexual penetration involving a young child, as Hoodline reported at the time.
County-level data underscores why child abuse cases remain a persistent concern for Clackamas County agencies. State child welfare figures from 2017 recorded 511 child victims of abuse or neglect in the county out of 11,077 confirmed victims statewide, according to Clackamas County Health, Housing & Human Services. County agencies have since conducted annual awareness campaigns aimed at increasing reporting of suspected abuse.
