Documents released Thursday exposed new details in the controversial Greg Kelley sexual assault case, including his relationship with the victim and sexual encounters.
Kelley was accused in 2013 of sexually assaulting two 4-year-old boys at an in-home daycare operated by his friend's family. Kelley, who was 18-years-old at the time of his arrest, was convicted of sexual assault and sent to prison. After new evidence caused Kelley's case to be reopened this year, the Texas Rangers began investigating alternative suspects.
Search warrants obtained by KVUE's and the Austin American-Statesman's Tony Plohetski said that during the investigation, Texas Rangers reviewed electronics in Kelley's possession and found incriminating text messages and pictures.
The search warrants released detail text messages and internet browsing history recovered from Greg Kelley's cell phone.
A warrant filed on Aug.17 examined iCloud accounts associated with Kelley between Dec. 20, 2012 and Dec. 1, 2014.
Investigators recovered deleted text message conversations in which Kelley spoke about being alone for hours with multiple children in the daycare. He also discussed a selfie he had taken with the central victim in the sexual assault case. Kelley had previously told investigators he was never alone with any children in the daycare and had little knowledge of the victim.
According to the warrant, internet browser history on Kelley's phone indicated he frequently viewed pornographic material.
"The pattern of online pornography interest amounted to what [investigators] recognized as the formation of an addiction," the warrant stated.
In January 2014, Kelley began visiting a website designed for adults to arrange casual sexual encounters. Recovered deleted messages indicated that Kelley was meeting with unknown individuals in secrecy for sex.
"Kelley's decision to partake in such activity was counterintuitive to his pending court case and was a further indicator of [his] deteriorating sexual control," the warrant said.
Keith Hampton, Kelley's attorney, said he is not concerned about the information released in the search warrants.
Hampton said he was aware that Kelley looked at porn and said it's not anything out of the ordinary for a teenage boy. He said he did find it surprising that the Texas Ranger said Kelley texted about spending hours alone with the children at the daycare - Hampton said that is not true.
"I can see a bored teenager saying something like, 'man I've been with these kids for hours,' and it's just hyperbole," Hampton explained.
As for the selfie the warrants reference, Hampton said the only photo he has seen involving a child also included Kelley's girlfriend Gaebri.
Hampton also said that the people Kelley was messaging were people he knew, not people he met on an adult hookup website.
"Those [texts] are from people that he knows well and they know him well. It's not a stranger. It is completely innocuous and unsurprising to anybody who's ever had a high school experience," Hampton said.
Kellie Bailey, the attorney for Johnathan McCarty, an alternative suspect in the case, released the following statement:
"Mr. Hampton has bent, hidden, and misrepresented the truth all along. The facts in the search warrants completely contradict Hampton’s own public statements and the sworn evidence he has provided. He has manipulated and broken trust with everyone who has believed him. This has got to stop. This is not justice."
Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick said the Texas Ranger investigation is ongoing and they have been actively investigating three suspects.
"They will pursue these leads until they have only one suspect or until they run out of leads," Dick said.
During a three-day hearing in early August, Kelley's attorney argued for Kelley's release. During the hearing, Dick said he could not defend Kelley's prosecution.
District Judge Donna King declined to release Kelley on bond at the end of the hearing and said the proposed findings of fact and conclusion of law from the hearing should be received by the court by Aug. 18, at which point King would make a recommendation to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals which would determine Kelley's fate.
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