Prosecutors Won't File Rape Charges Against "Good Day: NY" Anchor Greg Kelly

[JamesG]

Woman Accuses New York Police Commissioner’s Son of Rape
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
Published: January 25, 2012


The Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating an accusation that Greg Kelly, a local television anchor who is a son of Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, raped a young woman in Lower Manhattan last October, law enforcement officials and Greg Kelly’s lawyer said Wednesday.

Police detectives initially interviewed the woman late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, one of the law enforcement officials said.

But because of the conflict presented by the Police Department’s investigating a sexual assault accusation against the commissioner’s son, the case was handed over on Wednesday to the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr.







Mr. Kelly, 43, denied the accusation in a statement by his lawyer, Andrew M. Lankler, that was released Wednesday evening.

“Mr. Kelly is aware that the New York County District Attorney’s office is conducting an investigation,” the statement said. “Mr. Kelly strenuously denies any wrongdoing of any kind, and is cooperating fully with the district attorney’s investigation. We know the district attorney’s investigation will prove Mr. Kelly’s innocence.”

Mr. Kelly did not appear on Thursday morning on the television show on which he is an anchor.

Paul J. Browne, the deputy commissioner of public information at the Police Department, referred most questions about the case to Mr. Vance’s office. Mr. Vance declined to comment.








The woman, who is in her late 20s or early 30s, walked into the 13th Precinct station house with her sister sometime after 8 p.m. on Tuesday and made her complaint, according to one of the law enforcement officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the continuing investigation and the sensitivity of discussing accusations against the police commissioner’s son.

The woman told the police that she met the younger Mr. Kelly on the street and that the two went to South Street Seaport for drinks on Oct. 8. They then proceeded to her office at a Lower Manhattan law firm. The woman told the police that the rape occurred at the office. The two continued to have contact by phone and text message after the encounter.

According to the woman’s account, when her boyfriend later learned about the night, he became angry. He then approached the police commissioner at a public event and told him that the younger Mr. Kelly had sexually assaulted his girlfriend.

The commissioner, according to the woman’s account, told him to write a letter. It was unclear if the man did so.







Commissioner Kelly’s account of his encounter with the boyfriend is similar, though according to Mr. Browne, the man told the commissioner that his son had “ruined my girlfriend’s life” but declined it to discuss it there.

So the commissioner suggested that he write the letter.







Mr. Kelly, who is currently a co-anchor of "Good Day New York" on the Fox station WNYW (Channel 5), is a former NY1 political reporter. He served as a fighter pilot for nine years in the United States Marine Corps and holds the rank of major in the Reserves.

A few minutes after "Good Day New York" began on Thursday, one of the anchors reported the account of the accusation against Mr. Kelly and his lawyer’s statement was shown on the screen.

No explanation was given for Mr. Kelly’s absence from the show.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/ny...er=rss&emc=rss

[robyrob]

it sounds kind of suspicious when she has continued contact with him after the encounter, and it only becomes sexual assault after her boyfriend finds out...

[JamesG]

Kelly Returns to Show After Prosecutors Decline to File Rape Charges
By COLIN MOYNIHAN
February 10, 2012


In his first television appearance since sexual assault accusations against him became public, Greg Kelly returned on Friday to the morning show on which he is an anchor and alluded to a decision this week by Manhattan prosecutors not to file rape charges against him.

Near the beginning of the show, "Good Day New York" on the Fox station WNYW (Channel 5), Mr. Kelly’s fellow anchor, Rosanna Scotto, turned to Mr. Kelly and said, “So you’re back.”

Mr. Kelly replied: “Rosanna, it’s great to see you. Folks, thank you. It was a tough couple of weeks obviously for a lot of people. And I’m very, very grateful for all the support I had here at Fox Five, the support from my family and friends, those I care about and the viewers of course. They’ve been just great, the people who watch the show, and have weighed in through social media, positive remarks. Thank you very much.”







Mr. Kelly, a son of the police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, did not discuss the nature of the accusations against him or talk about his accuser.

It was the first time he was on the show since Jan. 25.



In late January, a woman in her late 20s or early 30s walked into the 13th Precinct station house and told officers that in October, Mr. Kelly, 43, had raped her in the Lower Manhattan law office where she works as a paralegal after the two had drinks together at a bar at South Street Seaport.

Because of a conflict of interest, the Police Department handed the case over to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

After a two-week investigation, the chief of the district attorney’s sex crimes unit, Martha Bashford, wrote a letter to Mr. Kelly’s lawyer saying “the facts established during our investigation do not fit the definition of sexual assault crimes.”







A spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said then that the agency had conducted a “thorough investigation,” interviewing witnesses and analyzing evidence including security logs, text messages, receipts and phone records.

Both Mr. Kelly and the woman, whose name was not made public by the authorities, were interviewed as part of the investigation.







After the accusation became public, Mr. Kelly, a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Reserves, took a leave from his position at the Fox station show.

On his return Friday morning, Mr. Kelly said that he was “especially grateful” to Ms. Scotto.

“You ready to get back to work?” he asked as a smattering of claps could be heard.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” she said, adding, “Watch it, because we’re going right back to where we left off.”

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...-rape-charges/