A college football player with a history of sexual assault raped a 17-year-old girl on a Carnival cruise ship celebrating the holidays with her family, then cruelly asked her if she was OK.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland has filed charges against James Thomas Kelly, now 22, for aggravated sexual abuse and sexual assault in connection with incidents that occurred on the Carnival Legend between January 1 and January 2, 2023. He was found guilty of sexual abuse and assault.
The Wingate University running back had already been found guilty of sexual assault of a minor in 2019, and jurors have ruled that he was guilty of other sexual assaults, including when he was already under FBI investigation for the Cruz rape. But I heard testimony from the six people who were making the accusations.
In the incident, prosecutors said the man “forcibly raped” the girl after taking her back to his cabin when she needed to use the restroom, then pushed her “face-first” onto a bed and raped her.
But prosecutors said in court documents that he “saw her drunk (by his own admission), realized he was vulnerable,” and “made the most of the situation.” I did,” he wrote. Acquired by the country.
“After raping (her), Mr. Kelly asked, 'Are you okay?'” the document said.
Prosecutors said Kelly denied raping the teen when FBI agents visited him at the university in April 2023.
But after federal authorities arrested him at the university in September 2023, a student came forward and reported that Kelly had also raped him, prosecutors said.
As of November 2023, Kelly had an outstanding arrest warrant for second-degree forcible rape related to the victim, according to court documents.
During the two-week trial, jurors heard testimony from six people who accused Kelly of sexually assaulting them on various occasions, prosecutors said. That includes during the FBI investigation after the cruise.
He was also convicted as a juvenile in a 2019 sexual assault case, according to prosecutors.
“Kelly has a remarkable history of sexual assault allegations from both men and women from early 2017 to September 2023,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.
Kelly faces up to life in prison in the federal case, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
