Paul Murphy / Eyewitness News
NEW ORLEANS -- A judge has decided that Dean Kelly, who is accused of raping three women, will remain in jail for violating his probation in a harassment case.
Judge John Shea decided to revoke Kelly’s probation on a misdemeanor charge at Municipal Court involving a case that involves some harassing text messages.
The judge said it was clear that Kelly had violated the terms of his release.
He heard from a second group of Tulane University students who claimed Kelly harassed them by text messages or on Facebook since his guilty plea and release last August.
Kelly, who was also facing three rape charges in state court, was instructed at the time not to solicit or harass random women either on the Internet or in person.
City attorneys played a prison phone call between Kelly and his wife Lauren from the past week. In it, she told her husband she’s disturbed and bothered by emails she saw on his computer.
“After we got married, why did you continue to send emails to a girl of a sexual nature? Totally inappropriate,” Kelly said in the recording. “Clearly, you have a sickness or you don’t care about me at all. ... It breaks my heart that you did this.”
Outside of Municipal Court on Thursday, Lauren Kelly siad, “It’s a tough situation obviously for the family. We’re just praying for Dean and staying strong. That’s all we can really do right now. We’ll just see how it goes and hope for the best. We’re optimistic.”
“He’s just a great guy,” said his mother, Marilyn Kelly. “He’s just not a mean person. He’s not a violent person. He’s definitely not a rapist. He’s never had a fight, never had any kind of altercations. Just an easy going guy.”
Kelly’s attorney told the judge that the terms of Kelly’s probation were too vague and that he was set up to fail. She said rather than sending him to jail for five months, she asked the judge if he would allow the family to send Kelly to a rehab for what she called “a serious texting and womanizing problem.”
The judge denied that request, saying Kelly is a “serious danger to society.”
