Greg Kelly denies sex assault accusation

The son of New York City police commissioner Ray Kelly has taken a leave from his job as a Ch. 5 morning show co-host amid allegations he sexually assaulted a woman who got pregnant and had an abortion, according to multiple reports.

Greg Kelly, 43, denied the rape allegations in a statement released Thursday by his attorney, Andrew M. Lankler of Manhattan.

"Mr. Kelly is aware that the New York County district attorney's office is conducting an investigation," the statement said. "Mr. Kelly . . . is cooperating fully with the district attorney's investigation. We know the district attorney's investigation will prove Mr. Kelly's innocence."

Lankler did not address the woman's pregnancy and abortion allegations, and referred all questions to Sunshine Sachs, a Manhattan public relations firm. A spokeswoman declined to comment on the claims.

Kelly, who has not been charged, did not show up for work Thursday at "Good Day New York," the morning news program he has co-hosted on Fox TV station WNYW since 2008.

"Greg Kelly has requested some time off," station manager, Lew Leone, said in a statement. Paul J. Browne, NYPD spokesman, said a man believed to be the accuser's boyfriend, alluded to the allegation when he met the commissioner at a public event.

"That person said to him, 'Your son ruined my girlfriend's life,' " Browne said Thursday. "Commissioner Kelly said 'What do you mean?' "

But the man, who didn't say his name, told the commissioner he didn't want to talk about it there, Browne said.

"So, the commissioner said, 'Then just write to me about it,' " according to Browne.

Browne said the commissioner did not receive a letter.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the commissioner took the appropriate step when he told the man to write a letter. And the police department made the right call by handing the investigation to the DA's office.

"Keep in mind that everyone has a right to have their complaints investigated," Bloomberg said.

Ray Kelly has made no public comment on the allegation since it was first reported Wednesday by The New York Times.

Multiple news reports gave the following account: The woman walked into the 13th Precinct station Tuesday and told police she met Greg Kelly on Oct. 8 on the street and the two went for drinks. Later, the pair went to her office in lower Manhattan. It was there, she told investigators, that Kelly raped her.

The woman and Kelly stayed in contact by phone and text message, according to the reports. Initially, police spoke to the woman but turned the case over to the DA's office because of a potential conflict of interest in investigating the son of the police commissioner. A spokeswoman in the DA's office declined to comment Thursday.

Coincidentally, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. appeared on Greg Kelly's show Monday, the day before the woman came forward and accused him of rape. Kelly questioned why Vance dropped sexual assault charges against former World Bank chairman Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

"Mr. Vance, we have not had you on the show since the whole DSK story -- Dominique Strauss-Kahn. I guess it was last spring," Kelly said to Vance. "Your office chose not to prosecute for sexual assault -- an alleged sexual assault. A lot of people were frustrated. They thought Nafissatou Diallo had a strong case that, at least, should have gone to trial. Why did your office decide not to prosecute DSK?"

Vance responded: "Fundamentally, Greg, it's a prosecutor's obligation, I believe, to put before a jury in a criminal case those cases where we are convinced as an office beyond a reasonable doubt that we are both able to prove the case and understand what happened."

Greg Kelly joined Fox News Channel in 2002 and was a White House correspondent from 2005-2007, according to his biography posted on WNYW's website.

Previously, he covered politics for local cable news channel New York 1 and was an anchor and reporter for NewsChannel 34, an ABC and NBC affiliate in Binghamton.

Before he worked as a reporter, Kelly served as a fighter pilot for nine years in the United States Marine Corps and holds the rank of major in the Reserves. He graduated from Fordham University with a bachelor of arts degree in political science.

With Verne Gay

and Chau Lam