By: Hayleigh Chapman
Staff Writer
A Wingate football player was arrested on campus by FBI agents Sept.
20 after a federal grand jury in Baltimore indicted him on sexual-
assault charges stemming from New Year’s Day incident on a cruise
aboard a Carnival ship.
Jalen Kelley, a redshirt junior running back from Abingdon, Md., faces a
maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. According to the
indictment, between Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 earlier this year, Kelley “engaged
in a sexual act by force and assaulted Victim 1 without consent on board
a cruise vessel Carnival Legend, which had a schedule departure from
and an arrival in Baltimore.”
In a Sept. 22 press release from the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S.
Attorney Erek Barron thanked Wingate University Campus Safety and
the Wingate Police Department for their assistance in helping the
Charlotte FBI office locate and apprehend Kelley.
The release went on to say that Kelley’s indictment included charges of
“assault, sexual assault and aggravated sexual abuse of a young
woman.”
The nine-month investigation was led by Special Agent in Charge
Thomas Sobocinski of the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office.
Kelley, 22, was listed on the Wingate athletic website’s football roster as
recently as the last week of September, but his name has now been
removed. The backup running back had yet to appear in a game this
season and played sparingly in 2022, getting one rushing attempt for
nine yards in five games.
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