'Outcry': A bone-chilling tale of high school football star Greg Kelley's wrongful sentence for child sex abuse
Greg Kelley became a household name after his controversial 2014 conviction for the "super aggravated sexual assault" of a minor. A new Showtime docuseries now revisits the highschool football star's long journey towards exoneration. The five-part series does an exceptional job of laying out the facts and leaving the viewer to play detective and judge the case for themselves.
Back in 2013, Kelley was a star defensive back for Leander High School in Cedar Park, TX, an affluent suburban community outside of Austin. His life appeared to be perfect. He was a star athlete, popular with the girls and had a promising future. Kelley, through sheer hard work, eventually accepted a Division I scholarship offer to play college football for the University of Texas-San Antonio. However, his life would turn upside down in July of that year.
Kelley, out of nowhere, was accused, arrested and charged with sexually assaulting two four-year-old boys. He initially thought it was a prank orchestrated by his friends, but in a shocking downturn, the promising athlete was suddenly facing 25 years to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Kelly was living at the home of his close pal Jonathan McCarty, whose mother ran an in-home daycare, shortly before his arrest. Both of Kelley's parents were reportedly suffering from medical emergencies at the time. The two boys who accused Kelley of sexual assault were a part of the daycare.
Despite weak evidence in the case – except for the children's "outcry" which later appeared to fall apart – the Willamson County district attorney and her two prosecutors at the time were able to convince a jury that "Kelley was guilty". He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, with a case that resembled many other doubtful verdicts and instances of swift justice.
From then on, 'Outcry' transitions from a true-crime documentary to more of a real-life legal thriller with the entrance of deus ex machina Keith Hampton, an attorney who is described as a "mad scientist" known for his work in appeals. While the entire case is well documented in mainstream news media, 'Outcry' does a commendable job bringing to light details of how the case was poorly handled right from the get-go.
The 2014 conviction of Kelley on two counts of super aggravated sexual assault of a child, based on the testimony of one victim while the other recanted their accusation, was shocking for many.
The Cedar Park community began to rally for Kelley's release, blaming the district attorney’s office and police department for mishandling the case. There were a number of demonstrations led by Jake Brydon, a self-proclaimed advocate who believed in Kelly despite having never met him. Meanwhile, Kelley wondered every day as he woke up behind bars, “Why can’t I just wake up and play football?”
'Outcry' also brings to the fore glaring errors in the original investigation of Kelley by the Cedar Park Police Department, Chief of Police Sean Mannix, and Detective Christopher Dailey. During a later hearing brought about by a writ of habeas corpus filed on Kelley’s behalf, Texas Ranger Cody Mitchell widely criticized their performance throughout the probe, especially after it emerged that Kelley had a credible alibi on the reported date of the incident.
After a number of legal proceedings, the former athlete was granted relief by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and released on bond in November 2019. Kelley was finally exonerated after more than six years of being charged and serving three years in prison.
Director Pat Kondelis was able to gain access to several years of filming, as well as into Kelley's lawyers, family members and his rock of a girlfriend. He admitted his crew recorded over 180 hours of footage in a span of three years – right from when Kelley is in jail to when he's out on bond, to when he is finally training to rekindle his long lost football career. “I was in shock multiple times over the revelations,” Kondelis says, acknowledging the twists and turns in the case. “I’ve never had less control over any story I’ve told before. This was us just sitting back, along for the ride.”
Kelly was awaiting his fate when he decided to try his luck training with the football team at the University of Texas. They welcomed him with open arms and Kelley began to train with former Longhorn running back Jeremy Hills and NFL luminary Kenny Vaccaro. “One thing I’ve realized through all these years,” Kelley tells producers, “Is there were times I wasn’t the strongest, times I was broken in prison, times I saw my family broken, times I was strong, times I had to embrace my reality. If I ever get the chance to play football, I want coaches to know I’m pretty damn good at suffering. I’m not looking to be a charity case. I just want to get back what was taken from me, what was stripped from me.”
It might be tempting to do a Google search and learn the eventual truth of the matter, which came late last year, but we recommend watching the complete series to get an intimate look at the finer details of Greg Kelley's emotional seven-year journey.
The first episode of 'Outcry' premieres Sunday at 10 p.m. on Showtime.