'Outcry': Where is Greg Kelley now and how did his conviction and subsequent exoneration affect his life?
The story of Gregory Kelley, a high-school football star from Leander, Texas, who was wrongly accused of child molestation is the subject of a new Showtime Sports documentary series. 'Outcry' is directed by Emmy-award winning film-maker Paul Kondelis and sheds light on the controversial case that convicted an innocent man of a crime he didn't commit, as a result of the authorities mishandling the case. But who exactly is Greg Kelley and where is he now?
Leander, Texas prides itself on its proficiency in football and Leander High School for that matter had one of the best teams in the state for a few decades. Kelley was a promising young football star who dreamed of making it big in the field, one day. He was one of the best players beloved by fans and the coaches alike and had joined the varsity team in 2010. He had been recruited by multiple colleges and was working his head off to be eligible for the scholarships that these colleges provided. Unlike most people that live in Leander, he didn't grow up with money. In 2012, when he had been in the middle of a stellar season, his father had suffered a stroke, while his mother was in the hospital recuperating from a brain tumor.
Seeing that he was in a difficult position, a classmate, Jonathan McCarty offered him a place to stay in his home, which was also a day-care run by McCarty's mother. However, in a horrible twist of fate, in early 2013, a 4-year-old boy came forward alleging that Greg had sexually abused him. Kelley was left shaken because he knew he had never done that. But since it was only one child claiming he had been assaulted, his friends, family, and attorney were positive that this would be sorted. However, a second 4-year-old boy came forward making a similar accusation against him, which ended up becoming a case for the William County District Attorney. Despite the lack of physical evidence, the initial split jury ruled a conviction for Kelley, on two counts of super aggravated sexual assault, carrying a prison sentence with no parole.
On being sentenced. he was encouraged to take a 25-year prison sentence instead of taking the risk of getting something longer from the jury, in exchange for waiving his right to appeal. After a subsequent retrial and a 6-year-long legal battle, during the course of which some new "credible evidence" was found that "a different person may have been involved in the assault", Kelley was completely exonerated of his charges. Throughout the course of the case, Kelley maintained his innocence, while his supporters comprising his family, friends and the community that knew him, stood by him. Johnathan McCarty then became a suspect after police found several pictures of naked children on his phone, associated with child pornography. In addition, four women came forward accusing McCarty of rape, including a girl who had been 15 at the time she had been drugged and raped by him. He is currently serving a 4-year prison sentence for the same.
Since he was exonerated in 2019, Kelley has sued the City of Cedar Park and two former Cedar Park police officials. According to a report by CBS Austin, the filed lawsuit claimed that former Cedar Park Police Detective Christopher Dailey and former Cedar Park Chief Sean Mannix “committed numerous acts and knowing omissions which led to wrongful conviction and imprisonment” of Kelley. Meanwhile, Kelley has been moving on with his life post-exoneration. Not long after his release, he was accepted to the University of Texas at Austin, and in January 2020, he married his childhood sweetheart, Gaebri Anderson. Kelley is a devout Christian and uses his social media platform, where he is pretty active, to discuss his faith. He also has his own business, Tomahawk targets, where he builds ax-throwing supplies and uses his social media platform for promoting his business.