News. Shama McCarty, Johnathan's mother, ran an in-home daycare, the scene of the alleged sexual assault. "Imagine not being able to kiss or hug the person you love. [9], The Hollywood Reporter said it was, "An effectively indignation-inducing true crime tale. The suit contends that Daileywas told Kelley hadn't lived at the McCarty home since June 2013 but changed the date to make it look as if he was still there on the July date the assault was alleged to have occurred. Hes a productive member of society.". Keith Hampton hadalleged inKelley's appeal that theaccused'strial lawyer, Patricia Cummings, had not adequately defended him, namely by refusing to take a harder look at McCarty as a possible suspect due to a conflict of interest, having representedmembers of the McCarty family some years prior. He was just a junior at that point. ", Kelley also said that day, "I was given my freedom and I'm happy with it." Christopher Dailey, who was the lead investigator on his case. All Rights Reserved. "Trying to go recreate a case involving small children years later, memories fade, change and its just almost impossible to go back and actually do justice in that case," he continued, explaining how a flawed prosecution can rob victims of true justice. ", But though Kelley is committed to holding the parties he feels are responsible for damaging his life"financially, emotionally, mentally, physically"accountable, he told E! Former Texas running back Jeremy Hills, a trainer with clients including Earl Thomas III and Landon Collins, has been training Kelley since he moved back to Austin last fall. The Greg Kelley case covered in the Showtime docuseries Outcry was, well, worthy of an outcry. WebKelly Gregg was born on November 1, 1976. Kelley signed with Eastern because of a prior relationship with defensive coordinator Neal Neathery, who got Kelley to commit to Texas-San Antonio when he was on the staff there. The efforts of activist Jake Braydon and the legal work of defense lawyer Keith Hampton, who discovered Cummings had represented Johnathan McCarty in previous other criminal matters and should have recused herself from representing Kelley, convinced the Court of Criminal Appeals to overturn Kelleys conviction and declare him innocent of the crime. Who Is Greg Kelley? They're holding off on having kids though, Anderson said, so that her husband can focus on school. I myself was losing hope, but all these people started believing in me and they started to say, 'Hey, Greg, we're here for you man, we love you, we're gonna get you through this.' "You had no idea who I was after my conviction," Kelley saidin court on the day of his exoneration. "The physical was taken away from us," Gaebri, a cheerleader in high school who now teaches at a dance studio near Cedar Park, told thePost. That case is pending. It gave me a little bit more hope. As "Outcry" points out, McCarty's initial lawyer was close friends with the McCarty family and she declined to look at himas a potential subject. From the first day in my heart, I knew he didn't do this." Kelley has been completely exonerated and declared innocent. Rankings for the 2023 NFL draft: Top prospects at every position from Kiper, McShay, Miller, Reid, Kiper's new Big Board rankings for the 2023 NFL draft: Top 25 prospects, Syracuse QB Shrader to miss spring practice, Sources: Asst. Will he ever get to play football again? at the time. #28. Kelley's case"clearly was the perfect storm of all aspects of the criminal justice system failing," Dick told Oxygen.com. But, when one of the children at the McCarty daycare accused Kelleyof molestation, his college football dreams as well as his entire life fell apart. Greg Kelley to play football for Eastern Michigan after exoneration for wrongful conviction In 2014, a judge sentenced Kelley to 25 years in prison for child NFL draft questions for teams in the top 10: Will the Colts trade up? 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. It was definitely hard. CBS Sports is a registered trademark of CBS Broadcasting Inc. Commissioner.com is a registered trademark of CBS Interactive Inc. site: media | arena: collegefootball | pageType: stories | Since he moved back to Austin last fall, Kelley has been working out with former Texas running back Jeremy Hills, an elite football trainer. Your source for entertainment news, celebrities, celeb news, and celebrity gossip. A presumption of innocence until proven guilty may be the law, but that's not often the way people think. Three trades in a chaotic top five, The new law changing service academy football, and the coaches pushing back, Realignment chatter: How the Pac-12 holds the key to it all. They both may have had too much confidence in the system, but at least in the end, her faith and trust in Greg was not misplaced. ", Catch Justin Sylvester's interview with Greg Kelley on the Aug. 19 episode of E! Unfortunately, we were unable to get to the ultimate answer of what happened to the child. A second boy also came forward but later recanted his accusation against Kelley. From the first day in my heart, I knew he didn't do this." It was definitely hard. His story was the subject of the hit Showtime documentary, "Outcry," which Eastern Michigan officials watched before signing off on the scholarship offer. According to the lawsuit filed in May and obtained by the Austin American-Statesman, Kelley alleges that Daileydid not verify Kelley's location the day of the assault, did not investigate other suspects, falsified information about when the assault happened and deleted emails about the case. He lived in New York City for a little while before that. We wanted to make sure that this guy did not want to come right next door to y'all's town, because I know you guys love your town just like we love ours, and do this to somebody else. Kelley, a safety, was verbally committed to play football at Texas-San Antonio before his arrest and wrongful conviction. Both just 17 at the time, thetrialmade them grow up fast. Kelley started playing varsity football at Leander High School in Texaswhere high school football on Friday rivals church on Sunday as a religious I've done everything I possibly can to show you that I didn't do this.". That commitment eventually landed him at Eastern Michigan, where Neal Neathery is defensive coordinator. There was no way he was going to get convicted on the evidence they didn't have. Separate from his own civil suit, Kelley is also eligible toreceive as much as $250,000 through the state'sWrongful Incarceration Act, according to his attorney. She maintained in 2017 that the defense she went witharguing that no abuse had occurredwas her best available option at the time based on the evidence. He was convicted a year later and sentenced for 25 years without possibility of parole. I'm still waiting for that decision from Texas, to see if I'm going to be a walk-on this fallif we have a fall season.". Kelley said that of course children should have fierce advocates and they are generally doing important work. Saying things they can't and they won't take back and, still to this day, I continue to get persecuted, and it breaks my heart. But, he added, "I want justice." All rights reserved. Kelley is also continuing with his education. I didn't expect any of that. Texas Ranger Cody Mitchell, tasked with leading the new investigation in 2017, testified that August that he had determined that the Cedar Park Police had botched the original investigation. As of now, the Big 12 hasn't canceled football season due to COVID-19, unlike some of the other major college football conferences. "I've got nothing but work ethic right now," Kelley said. I had friends since I was a baby who were saying, 'I can't believe you are sticking by him.' He had been fighting to overturn his conviction ever since it was handed down, but the campaign really picked up steam when Shawn Dick, a newly elected Williamson County district attorney, reopened the case. Defensive Back. 5:36 pm ET, Alabama overcomes huge deficit, rallies to beat Auburn, Alabama hires former Texas, UL coach Strong as analyst, Georgia star Jalen Carter subject of arrest warrant, 23 things to watch during 2023 spring football, Lincoln Riley opens up on Year 2 expectations, Big Ten, CFP committee adds Hall of Fame coach for 2023, 23 things to watch as spring practices begin, Report: Alabama hires Charlie Strong as analyst, Ex-Georgia star Jalen Carter subject of arrest warrant, Diaco reunites with Kelly, joins LSU staff as analyst, Ex-Tennessee staffers penalized for NCAA violations. But while that was the outcome Kelley had been praying for, his life hasn't simply snapped back to normal. I want to be free. He made the announcement on an Instagram post uploaded on Saturday. He debated whether to continue pursuing football or moving on in life, but ultimately decided to stick with it. In 2013, in the sprawling Texas suburbs of Leander, north of Austin, a standout high school football star by the name of Greg Kelley was charged for the sexual assault of two children, under the age of 5, who attended the daycare in the home where he was living. He was compensated more than a half-million dollars for his wrongful conviction,as well as free college, but he still was on scholarship at Eastern Michigan. Hall of Fame coach Chris Ault has been named to the College Football Playoff selection committee, along with Miami (Ohio) athletic director David Sayler and Washington athletic director Jennifer Cohen. section: | slug: greg-kelley-to-play-football-at-eastern-michigan-after-wrongful-child-sex-crime-conviction-was-overturned | sport: collegefootball | route: article_single.us | Greg Kelley, a former Texas high school football player who was legally exonerated last November following a wrongful conviction in 2014 in a child sexual "Those guys taught me so much about getting through and persevering through such a place full of hatred and violence, and racists. That's how Eastern Michigan's newest football recruit, Greg Kelley, chooses to look at life these days, after an eight-year, nationally publicized saga that saw the one-time top-shelf Texas high-school football star wrongfully convicted for child sexual assault and spend three-and-a-half years in prison. WebGreg. Kelley had publicly expressed his hope that Dailey and Mannix would be fired, telling reporters outsideBurnet City Hall,"The reason why we wanted this to happen guys is because it's not about me, it's about the next person. Several tireless advocates took up his case, and, amid some recanted testimony and allegations of shoddy police work, on Nov. 6, 2019, his conviction was overturned, and on Nov. 26, 2019, he was granted a complete exoneration. Kelley was enrolled at Texas and was preparing to try to walk on the football team, but right as that was about to happen, COVID-19 hit, and Texas halted the walk-on Give me a shot.' Well, I dont have that fear anymore.. Weeks later, a new judge in the Texas district court where Kelley was originally convicted held a hearing and said, "I declare you innocent, and you are fully exonerated.". He made friends on the inside whom he keeps in touch with daily, and he said he intends to start a prison ministry to help people serious about turning their life around. A presumption of innocence until proven guilty may be the law, but that's not often the way people think. He was unable to definitively conclude who the perpetrator was, but he had three suspects: Kelley, Johnathan McCarty and an unnamed third person. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Kelley's conviction last November, writing that "the system failed him, for it convicted an innocent man." He told, There has not been another arrest in connection with Kelley's case specifically, though McCarty has been arrested, A judge recommended to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals that Kelleys conviction be vacated in 2017 after a long and difficult battle from Kelley's supporters, according to the, As Outcry shows,Kelley moved to New York City with his longtime high school sweetheart turned. If youre that sure he did it youll give him no jail time, but if he is that adamant about not pleading guilty, youll give hima 25 year sentence?" Kelley has since received a wrongful-conviction settlement from the state of Texas, and is suing the police department that targeted him from the beginning and never looked at other suspects. ", Why Alonzo Brooks' Death Needed Further Investigationand Not Just From Unsolved Mysteries, And when he was convicted, Kelley recalled, "a groundswell of support from above started coming up and people started having my back. "Those guys taught me so much about getting through and persevering through such a place full of hatred and violence, and racists. (In an unrelated case, Johnathan was sentenced to four years in prison last yearafter pleadingguilty to unlawful restraint and drug charges. That's how Eastern Michigan's newest football recruit, Greg Kelley, chooses to look at life these days, after an eight-year, nationally publicized saga that saw the one-time top-shelf Texas high-school football star wrongfully convicted for child sexual assault and spend three-and-a-half years in prison. Furthermore, an investigator used questionable tactics to interview the children. His team lost on a Hail Mary. We actually had a trip planned for the next day.". (Featured Image Credit: Showtime). Kelley, whose story is told in the Stan docuseries Outcry, was just 17 when the accusations were made. Two years later, in late 2019, Greg was finally exonerated with the belief that he is actually innocent of committing the offense., https://www.instagram.com/p/B4kczM4hmvk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link, In 2017, Greg Kelley was free, yes, but somehow, it felt the opposite for him. Because the child was so small, they moved forwarded immediately and arrested Greg Kelley, the only known Greg who had been at that house. He's currently enrolled as a student atthe University of Texas at Austin,KVUEreports. After that, Kelley had to wait and see what the Texas Court of Criminal Appealswould say. But he's also busy simply enjoying his freedom. Together the couple resides in Texas, but they also move around to New York and Los Angeles from time to time. Is Kelly Gregg in the Hall of Fame? Earning money proved tough while he was still a convicted felon, so he saved up for a ring doing yard work and other odd jobs. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! (In an unrelated case, Johnathan was sentenced to four years in prison last yearafter pleadingguilty to unlawful restraint and drug charges. They're holding off on having kids though, Anderson said, so that her husband can focus on school. All rights reserved. Kelly serves at Newsmax TV as a host of the Greg Kelly Reports show which airs on weekdays at 7 pm, 11 pm, and 3 am, on Saturdays at 3 pm, and on In 2013, with four scholarship offers on the table, a steady girlfriend and the future looking bright, the 17-year-old was accused ofmolesting a 4-year-old boy. On June 11, Greg moved back to his place, but more than a month later, a woman came forward and told the authorities that her son said that Greg had assaulted him. WebLatest on NT Kelly Gregg including news, stats, videos, highlights and more on NFL.com ", And when he was convicted, Kelley recalled, "a groundswell of support from above started coming up and people started having my back. Hills, who trains NFL players including Earl Thomas III and Landon Collins, said he was blown away by what he saw after he initially offered Kelley a chance to work out with him as a favor after following his case in the local news. He was arrested the summer before his senior year, and eventually was convicted and sentenced to up 25 years in prison without the chance of parole or appeal. This was an actual ballplayer.". Having previously maintained that he conducted a thorough investigation in the Kelley case, Dailey had yet to comment. They both may have had too much confidence in the system, but at least in the end, her faith and trust in Greg was not misplaced. The last football game Kelley played was in the Texas state playoffs. He was arrested during his senior year based on a sexual abuse allegation by a 4-year-old child in an in-home day care at a home where Kelley was staying with a friend and his family. These past two years have been a struggle, he said after his official exoneration. I'm still waiting for that decision from Texas, to see if I'm going to be a walk-on this fallif we have a fall season.". We all agree that if [this person] committed the offense, then Greg's conviction should certainly be reversed.". Dan Graziano reports from the NFL combine on the possible repercussions Jalen Carter could face from the league. ", The Unanswered Questions of Unsolved Mysteries' Rey Rivera Episode. There were still chains hanging off of me. Both just 17 at the time, thetrialmade them grow up fast. But there are no assurances, especially now in a global pandemic that might put the college football season in jeopardy. How much did Kelly Gregg weigh when playing? The couplemarried in January 2019. Furthermore, the filing also alleged, Cummings had previously represented this third suspect in another matter and therefore refrained from investigating that person as well. "I just call myself blessed," said Kelley, who was so adamant about his innocence from the beginning that he refused to sign a plea deal that could've kept him out of prison, and despite his mother's pleas to take it. Former Georgia star Jalen Carter, one of the top prospects in next month's NFL draft, has been charged with reckless driving and racing in conjunction with the crash that killed a teammate and a recruiting staff member. She continued, "I had no doubt in my mind. How tall is Kelly Gregg? And so, in 2017, he filed for a re-trial and was released from prison in August on bond. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. McCarty's family had taken Kelley in when Greg's own parents' health problems made it tough for them to take care of him. A former Cedar Park resident named Jake Brydon helped pay forhis defense through the appeals process. College football administrators are looking at ways to reduce the number of plays in games in the name of player safety, with a tweak in clock operating procedures likely the first step. He was released on bond in 2017 when Shawn Dick, a newly elected Williamson County district attorney, reopened Kelley's case based on evidence from an appellate lawyer and a subsequent investigation by the Texas Rangers that found fault with the investigation. "Me and my family, that nightmare that we went through, is something I don't wish on my worst enemy. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! Kelley's case dates back to 2013, when he was a standout football player in Leander, Texas, who was committed to UTSA. Texas is my dream school, Kelley told Horns247. There was no way he was going to get convicted on the evidence they didn't have. They tied the knot in Austin this past January. It appears he will end his Eastern Michigan career before playing a single game. "Everything that happens to me from here on out is a blessing. Chief Mannix retired from the Cedar Park forcein Februaryand was due toassume that role in the much smaller city ofBurnet, about 36 miles away, but KXAN reported on July 13 that he would no longer be taking the job. Kelleys supporters rallied to show their support of the convicted teen, and to point out the apparentholes in the case. Greg Kelleyhas hopes and dreams, like a lot of people. "Being labeled a pedophile is worse than murder," Kelley explained. He attended a tryout in February but was informed this month that Texas will not be adding any new players to the roster this fall. We got to premiere this documentary months before it came out and, sitting there with my family, reliving six years of heartache in a documentary that's about five hoursI mean, there's no words to explain it.". "For the people that stepped in and saved my life, I'm extremely grateful for them. 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