'Outcry': Who was involved in high school football star Greg Kelley's conviction, where are they now?
In the age of #MeToo and #TimesUp, the focus has turned to support survivors of sexual harassment and assault. For decades, women who fell victim to exploitation had been forced into silence to preserve their careers, but the 2017 #MeToo movement sparked a campaign that advocated for the rights of women who had been wronged. Cases comprising sexual misconduct allegations are not only sensitive but they are also very complex because while it calls for justice for survivors, there are times when survivors' stories can be manipulated by the mishandling of their stories. Such is the story of high school football star Greg Kelley, who was falsely convicted of child molestation. His long legal battle is now the subject of Showtime's new five-part docuseries 'Outcry', directed by Emmy-award winning filmmaker Paul Kondelis. The docuseries shines a light on the controversial case and how it was mishandled by authorities, leading to Kelley accepting a 25-year-prison sentence for a crime he didn't commit. Kelley was exonerated in 2019, but who were the people involved in his case and where are they now?
Gregory Kelley
Greg Kelley, 17, was a standout high school football player and was set to begin his senior season in 2013 when in an unfortunate turn of events, he was arrested and charged with molesting a 4-year-old boy. After a trial and wrongful conviction, throughout which he maintained his innocence, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison, without a possibility of parole. In November 2019, however, he was completely exonerated on his charges. Since then, Kelley has sued the City of Cedar Park along with two former Cedar Park police officials. But he has also been moving on with his life, trying to put the past behind him. Not long after he was exonerated, he was accepted into the University of Texas, Austin. In January 2020, he married his childhood sweetheart, Gaebri Anderson. Kelley is a Christian and uses his social media platform to discuss his faith and also promote his business, Tomahawk Targets
Johnathan McCarty
Johnathan McCarty is the son of the day-care owner, where the two children who alleged they were assaulted by Kelley. McCarty was a classmate of Kelley's when they studied together at Leander High School. At the time of Kelley's arrest, he had been living with McCarty in his home. The latter had offered him a place to stay after Kelley's father had been hospitalized with a stroke and his mother had been recovering from a brain tumor. During the course of the investigation into Kelley's case, McCarty emerged as a subject under several circumstances. Police had found pictures of naked children on his phone and computer, while four women had come forward and accused him of raping them. Furthermore, it was revealed that the child (the other had recanted the allegation) had been assaulted in McCarty's room. McCarty is currently serving a four-year prison sentence, after pleading guilty the unlawful restraint and drug charges against him on a different case, where he was accused of drugging and raping a 15-year old.
Judge Billy Ray Stubblefield
Judge Billy Ray Stubblefield of Georgetown has been serving as the presiding judge of the Third Administrative Judicial Region since February 2010. He was the trial judge in the Greg Kelley case.
Detective Chris Dailey
Christopher Dailey, a detective in Kelley's case, had formerly also interviewed the two boys that had alleged that Kelley assaulting them. Over the course of the case, he had been deemed to manipulate one of the victims (who later recanted his allegation), and in one of his later testimonies, Dailey admitted to asking leading questions during his interviews with the boys. He also confessed that he had not used the best practices for interviewing them. In addition, he also said that he did not visit the day-care facility, take photographs or question other people who had access to the boy and neither did he collect evidence or consider any other suspect. After his exoneration, Kelley and his supporters called for the dismissal of two Cedar Park police officers, one among them being Dailey.
Attorney Patricia Cummings
Patricia Cummings was a well-known criminal defense attorney, who represented Kelley in at the start of his trial and maintained that her client was innocent and the accusations made against him were false. Cummings has also previously done legal work for the McCartys. However, because she had failed to cross-examine the details of the accusations of the crime scene, her client was sentenced to 25 years in prison without parole. Kelley even waived his right to appeal and was left with only the right to file for a new trial, which he did but with a new lawyer. Patricia was scrutinized and admonished for her "inadequate" legal defense by Judge Donna King at the new hearing. Yet, that didn't form a setback in her law career which has only taken off since then. In 2015, she got a promotion and became the supervisor and headed the unit which handled the cases of alleged police misconduct at the Conviction Integrity Unity at the Dallas County District Attorney’s office. Recently she was recruited by Larry Krasner, the new Philadelphia District Attorney, to join his office and now holds the position of head of Philadelphia’s Conviction Integrity Unit.
Judge Donna King
Judge Donna King was the trial judge at Kelley's retrial in 2017. His case was reopened after the authorities had gained "credible evidence" of someone else's importance. She had ruled that Cummings had provided "inadequate" legal defense to her client, Kelley, in his initial trial. Essentially, her ruling ultimately led to Kelley's complete exoneration, and she was one of the people Kelley thanked following his release. Judge King currently presides over the 26th District Court. These days, she is working on the case of a man with significant mental health issues that was accused of violating a protective order in Round Rock, Texas. She thought he needed a lot more supervision after the prosecutor and defense lawyer both recommended probation, but there were no options to facilitate his rehabilitation. Last year, she started working with a team to set up a treatment plan for him and other felony offenders like him.
'Outcry' premieres July 5, at 10 pm ET/PT on Showtime, with new episodes airing every Sunday, through August 2.