The son of New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly is fighting accusations that he sexually assaulted a woman, who later had an abortion. WNBC-TV's Jonathan Dienst reports on the case against Greg Kelly.
By msnbc.com staff and news services
NEW YORK -- A woman who has accused the son of New York City's police commissioner of sexually assaulting her told authorities she got pregnant from the encounter and had an abortion, people familiar with the investigation said.
The woman told authorities she met Greg Kelly for drinks on Oct. 8, then went back to her law office in lower Manhattan, where she was assaulted, one person familiar with the case told The Associated Press. She told officials she was not capable of consenting to sex, the person said.
Kelly, 43, was absent from his job as anchor of the popular local morning show "Good Day New York" on Fox 5 New York, WNYW, when news of the alleged attack broke Thursday morning. He has, through a lawyer, denied the allegations.
According to The New York Daily News, Kelly and the accuser exchanged texts for a considerable period after the incident and he said he received "flirtatious" messages from the woman, an indication that their meetup was consensual and for a "sexual purposes," police sources said.
The woman said she called Kelly some time after their encounter, furious, and asked him, "Why'd you do that?" the News reported.
"That could be the big key," an investigator, who was not identified, told the News on Thursday. "Unless she taped the phone call, whether this guy gets charged could be determined by the texts."
In addition, according to a law enforcement official quoted by the AP, the woman said she became pregnant and had an abortion. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, talked to the AP on condition of anonymity.
It wasn't clear whether the woman supplied any medical evidence to authorities to support her claim.
Police spoke to the woman but quickly turned the case over to the Manhattan district attorney's office because of the potential conflict of interest in investigating the son of Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.
NYPD commish's son, a Fox anchor, in rape probe
The younger Kelly, a former Fox News correspondent, is cooperating with the investigation, his lawyer, Andrew Lankler, said in an emailed statement.
Kelly "strenuously denies any wrongdoing of any kind," Lankler said. "We know that the district attorney's investigation will prove Mr. Kelly's innocence." The lawyer didn't respond to questions about the focus of the investigation.
Lew Leone, the general manager of the New York Fox station, said, "Greg Kelly has requested some time off." He did not elaborate.
Suspicions
The story came to law enforcement's attention after the woman's boyfriend was told of the alleged incident and became enraged, the anonymous AP source said.
The woman's boyfriend then confronted the elder Kelly at a recent public event, police spokesman Paul Browne said.
"He said, 'Your son ruined my girlfriend's life,'" Browne said. "The commissioner said, 'Well, what do you mean?' He said he didn't want to talk about it here, so the commissioner told him to send a letter."
Browne said that, to his knowledge, no letter was sent. He said he could not comment on the investigation because of the potential conflict of interest.
According to her boyfriend, the woman has been "an emotional cripple" since the incident, ABCNews.com reported.
Charles Sykes / AP file
Greg Kelly, seen in November 2010
A source told WABC in New York that the boyfriend, who is significantly older, had had a vasectomy and when he learned his girlfriend was pregnant, he knew the child was not his. No other media outlets confirmed that, but others, including the New York Post, reported the woman told detectives she was not having sex with her boyfriend at the time.
On Friday, skepticism was cast on the accuser's account.
Investigators "don't buy her story," a source told the Post, adding that the three months that passed in between the alleged attack and the time it took to report it are adding to suspicion.
In addition to texts, the woman also allegedly exchanged emails with Kelly during the three months, local media reported.
It's not known whether Kelly was informed of the alleged abortion.
Mayor: NYPD 'did exactly what they should do'
Mayor Michael Bloomberg Thursday that he "thought the police department did exactly what they should do" by turning the matter over to the district attorney.
"Keep in mind: Everyone has a right to have their complaints investigated," the mayor said, noting that Greg Kelly hasn't been charged with any crime.
It wasn't immediately clear how much time elapsed between the man's remarks to the commissioner and the woman's decision to go to a police station Tuesday, nor why she had waited for nearly three months after the alleged attack to make a report.
It's also unclear how long the woman and Kelly knew each other before the alleged encounter at her office.
The identity of the woman has not been released, and the AP -- along with msnbc.com and most major media outlets -- does not name people who report being sexually assaulted unless they agree to be identified or come forward publicly.
The Daily News reported she was the 30-year-old daughter of a prominent lawyer who graduated from a prestigious private school in Manhattan, according to sources. She reportedly works as a paralegal at a firm near Wall Street.
Kelly joined Fox News in 2002. He covered the Iraq War, including four assignments in Baghdad, and was the White House correspondent from 2005 to 2007, according to his biography on WNYW's website.
In 2007, the television show "Extra" identified him as the most eligible anchorman on TV. The show's website said Kelly "has enough heart and courage to make any woman swoon." He is single.
Kelly served for nearly a decade in the Marine Corps and is now a lieutenant colonel in its reserves.
Raymond Kelly has been police commissioner since 2002. He also served as commissioner in the 1990s.
The allegations about Kelly's son are the commissioner's latest potential public relations challenge. Also Thursday, about 20 activists held a news conference on the steps of City Hall and criticized Ray Kelly for giving an interview to the producers of the movie "The Third Jihad." They said the film encourages Americans to be suspicious of all Muslims. Kelly has apologized for the interview.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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