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