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October 07, 2004
Mely cites son's child abuse history
Search warrant reveals father's comments
BY MARA H. GOTTFRIED -- Pioneer Press
The father of a 19-year-old man charged with sexually groping a 12-year-old on a St. Paul street told investigators he has seen his son touch children inappropriately in the past, according to a search warrant filed Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court.
Ryan Mely of St. Francis touched "his younger nephews and nieces 'in the wrong spot' while they were in the process of playing" and "asks for kisses … frequently from the children," George Mely, 43, told investigators, according to the search warrant.
George and Ryan Mely, who resemble each other and a composite drawing of a suspect in the sexual assault, were arrested on Sept. 26.
Ryan Mely was charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct last week for allegedly touching the girl on Sept. 17 on Hague Avenue. He remains in Ramsey County jail. His attorney did not return a call seeking comment Wednesday.
George Mely hasn't been charged with anything, but police continue to investigate whether he or Ryan Mely had any involvement in other recent cases of a man trying to lure children away and, in one case, briefly kidnapping a young girl in St. Paul.
Another warrant authorized a search of an SUV, which was seized from the Melys' home and resembles some of the victims' description of the vehicle the suspect was driving, police have said.
Authorities were looking for clothing that matched victims' descriptions of what the suspect was wearing, including a blue dress shirt, a yellow shirt, a green jacket, a dark-colored long-sleeved shirt, blue jeans, white tennis shoes and sunglasses.
During the search, police found two pairs of sunglasses, two yellow shirts and a blue shirt in the vehicle, according to an inventory receipt dated Sept. 30.
One warrant was for two computers from the Mely home.
In the application for the warrant, an investigator wrote that when police went to St. Francis to execute a different search warrant, Ryan Mely's stepmother, who is George Mely's second wife, was home. She told an investigator that Ryan Mely and perhaps George Mely "had downloaded 'bad pornography' onto her computer," a warrant states.
Searches of the computers are under way, but could be time consuming, police said.
When no charges were filed last week against George Mely, who is a convicted sex offender, he was moved from the Ramsey County jail to the Anoka County jail, as the Minnesota Corrections department investigates an allegation that he violated a term of his probation by possessing sexually explicit material.
Posted by Nealus at October 7, 2004 12:33 PM
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