Warning: This article discusses child abuse and sexual assault, which may be distressing to some readers.
A teenage football star, once wrongly accused and convicted of assaulting two young boys, has been cleared of all charges.
Greg Kelley recently spoke in an interview, expressing gratitude to his high school sweetheart, who supported him during his 1,153 days in prison.
After his release and a reinvestigation of his case, Kelley and Gaebri Anderson were married in 2020.
The couple, now both 30, reside on a large farmhouse estate with their daughter, Summer Rae, who is 17 months old.
This life is drastically different from the nightmare Kelley faced in 2013 when he was arrested based on accusations from two young boys.
At 18, Greg Kelley was taken into custody in Williamson County Jail, Austin, Texas, following false allegations.
Kelley, who had secured a football scholarship to the University of Texas at San Antonio, had moved in with a friend’s family because his mother was battling a brain tumor, and his father was recovering from a stroke.
He lived with the McCarty family, who operated an in-home daycare, alongside fellow football player Johnathan McCarty.
His life was upended in 2013 when he was accused of committing super-aggravated sexual assault against two four-year-old boys at the daycare.
Greg maintained his innocence, calling his girlfriend, who was at the grocery store when she received the call.
Gaebri recounted to PEOPLE how she ‘blacked out’ upon hearing the news, stating: “I didn’t even comprehend what was happening, and I thought it would clear up so fast.”
A Showtime documentary series titled Outcry detailed the case, revealing that one of the boys accused Greg of molestation.
It was later discovered that Greg had moved out of the house a month before the alleged incident.
“From the first day, in my heart, I knew he didn’t do this,” Gaebri told the New York Post. “It was crazy. I had friends since I was a baby who were saying, ‘I can’t believe you are sticking by him'”.
In a subsequent lawsuit following his wrongful conviction, Greg claimed that Sergeant Christopher Dailey falsified the move-out date to justify the charges against him.
Two weeks after the initial accusation, police claimed another four-year-old boy made similar allegations against Greg.
The documentary later revealed that the second boy denied any abuse in the first two interviews with a counselor, only reporting an assault during a third interview with a detective.
Kelley’s original defense lawyer, Patricia Cummings, did not highlight the resemblance between Greg and teammate Johnathan McCarty, who also lived in the home.
A judge later found Cummings had a conflict of interest due to previous representation of the McCarty family.
McCarty was never charged in connection with the molestation accusations but was imprisoned for other sexual offenses, as reported by the Daily Mail. Although not charged in this specific case, Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick confirmed McCarty was once a suspect.
“I fell in love with him while he was incarcerated. We broke up for seven days, and it didn’t feel right,” Gaebri explains.
During his imprisonment, Greg developed a talent for drawing, with Gaebri recalling: “He would make me elaborate homemade cards and love letters that were eight pages long.
“They were so beautiful. The physical was taken away from us. Imagine not being able to kiss or hug the person you love. We had to fall in love with each other’s hearts through these letters.”
Now free, Greg still keeps a box of her love letters.
In 2017, Greg was released on bond as the case was reexamined due to mishandling claims.
On November 6, 2019, he was finally exonerated, proposing to Gaebri shortly after.
Following his exoneration, Greg filed a civil suit against the city of Cedar Park and two police officials.
He received a $500,000 settlement, along with $258,000 and a monthly payment of around $1,200 as per state law.
With this, he purchased a three-acre property for his mother, thanking her for selling her home to fund his legal expenses.
Gaebri reflects, “In some ways, I am very grateful for everything, because it did make us stronger. I don’t know if we would be together if all that didn’t happen.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico.