A Maryland man raped a teenager aboard a cruise ship while she was celebrating the holidays with her family, and then asked her a deplorable question.
Jalen Thomas Kelley, 22, of Abingdon, was found guilty of aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse and assault in connection with the incident onboard the Carnival Legend between January 1 and January 2, 2023, federal prosecutors announced last week.
They had claimed Kelley met a 17-year-old onboard the cruise ship following a New Year’s Eve party and took her back to his cabin when she needed to use the restroom.
When she then stepped outside, Kelley pushed her on the bed ‘face first’ and raped her, prosecutor said in court documents obtained by The State.
‘After raping [her], Kelley asked, “You good?”‘ the federal complaint reads.
At that point, the teenager left his room, and after the ship later returned to a Baltimore port and she and her family returned home to Virginia, the girl reported the rape to her parents and police.
She was later examined at a local hospital, where doctors found she had bruises on her right arm and shins as well as ‘vaginal abrasions, tearing and bruising,’ according to court documents.
But Kelley later denied that he sexually assaulted the teen when FBI agents visited him at Wingate University in North Carolina, where he was a redshirt running back for the football team.
Jalen Thomas Kelley, 22, of Abingdon, Maryland, was found guilty of raping a teenager aboard a cruise ship while she was celebrating the holidays with her family
Prosecutors said he invited a 17 year old back to his cabin on the Carnival Legend (pictured) following a New Year’s Eve party to let her use the bathroom, after which he pushed her on the bed ‘face first’ and raped her
Instead, he claimed he and the girl kissed and touched each other outside of his room, before he let her use the bathroom.
Kelley also said he thought she was under the influence at the time.
‘Kelley saw that [she] was intoxicated (by his own admission), realized she was vulnerable and offered to take her to the bathroom,’ court documents claim.
He ‘took full advantage of the situation,’ prosecutors argued.
The former college athlete was then arrested at Wingate on September 20, 2023, the school’s newspaper reported at the time.
As news spread of his arrest, another student claimed Kelley also raped her, according to The State.
There was an outstanding warrant for his arrest in connection with that case as of November 2023, but it is unclear whether he was ever arrested in that case.
Yet prosecutors alleged in court documents that ‘Kelley has an alarming history of allegations of sexual assault from males and females spanning from early 2017 through September 2023.’
They even called on six people who had accused Kelley of sexually assaulting them on different occasions, and noted that in 2019, he was convicted as a minor in a sexual assault case.
Kelley now faces up to life in prison on the federal charge.
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