Cruise passenger raped 17-year-old on Carnival ship and assaulted 8 others, feds say
A Maryland man convicted of raping a 17-year-old on a Carnival cruise had sexually assaulted eight other people, the FBI learned during its investigation, according to court documents.
Jalen Thomas Kelley, 22, of Abingdon, Maryland, has been found guilty of aggravated sexual abuse, sexual abuse and assault in connection with the incident aboard the Carnival Legend, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland said in a Dec. 13 news release. Abingdon is about a 30-mile drive northeast from Baltimore.
Kelley “forcibly raped” the teen, who was vacationing with her family for the holidays, between Jan. 1, 2023 and Jan. 2, 2023, the day the cruise was returning to a Baltimore port, according to prosecutors.
During Kelley’s two-week trial, jurors heard testimony from six people who accused Kelley of sexually assaulting them on different occasions, prosecutors said. In 2019, he was convicted as a minor in a sexual assault case, according to prosecutors.
While the FBI was investigating him, four months after the cruise, he raped a classmate at Wingate University in North Carolina, prosecutors said.
Federal public defenders representing him didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Dec. 16.
“Sexual violence is a horrific violation of personal autonomy and will not be tolerated. We will hold perpetrators accountable,” U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron said in a statement.
While Kelley was a junior at Wingate University, he met the 17-year-old on the cruise ship after a New Year’s Eve party the early morning of Jan. 1, 2023, court documents say.
The night of Jan. 1, 2023, Kelley took the teen to his cabin when she needed a restroom, prosecutors wrote in court filings.
When she stepped outside the bathroom, Kelley pushed her on the bed, “face first,” and raped her, prosecutors said.
“After raping (her), Kelley asked, ‘You good?,’” according to court documents.
The teen then left his room, prosecutors said.
After the cruise returned to Baltimore, she and her family went home to Virginia, where she reported the rape to her parents and police, according to prosecutors.
She was examined at a Virginia hospital and had bruises on her right arm and shins, as well as “vaginal abrasions, tearing and bruising,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.
In April 2023, Kelley denied raping the teen while speaking with FBI agents who visited him at Wingate University, according to prosecutors.
He told agents that he and the girl had kissed and touched each other outside of his room before he let her use the bathroom, and he told them he thought she was under the influence, prosecutors said.
“Kelley saw that (she) was intoxicated (by his own admission), realized she was vulnerable, and offered to take her to the bathroom,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.
He “took full advantage of the situation,” they said.
The FBI arrested Kelley at Wingate University on Sept. 20, 2023, according to the Wingate Triangle, the university’s student newspaper. He was a redshirt junior running back for Wingate University’s football team at the time, the newspaper reported.
After seeing a news release about his arrest, a student reported Kelley had raped her, according to prosecutors.
As of November 2023, there was an outstanding arrest warrant for Kelley for second-degree forcible rape out of Union County, North Carolina, in connection with that victim, according to court documents.
It’s unclear whether he was arrested in that case. McClatchy News contacted local authorities for more information on Dec. 16.
“Kelley has an alarming history of allegations of sexual assault from males and females spanning from early 2017 through September 2023,” prosecutors wrote in court documents.
In the federal case, Kelley faces up to life in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Carnival didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment.
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