Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly plans to dodge questions about the rape allegation involving his son when he meets with reporters Friday.
Kelly will appear at a promotion ceremony at Police Headquarters at 11 a.m. and typically fields inquiries from the media afterward.
But his chief spokesman, Paul Browne, sent out the following statement Friday morning:
“Commissioner Kelly will be available in the 2nd Floor press room of One Police Plaza today for questions after 11 a.m. promotions. However, he will not entertain questions, directly or tangentially related to his son. Such inquiries should be directed to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.”
The NYPD referred the case to the prosecutor’s office because of the conflict of interest in investigating the commissioner’s son.
Mayor Bloomberg reiterated Friday that that was the right move.
“I thought the police commissioner the Police Department did exactly the right thing,” Bloomberg said on his regular appearance on “The John Gambling Show” on WOR-AM. “There is too much of an appearance of a conflict when there’s an allegation against the commissioner’s son and they turned it over to the Manhattan district attorney, who is very competent and will do a thorough investigation.”
Commissioner Kelly did not have any public appearances Thursday, when headlines blared that his son, television personality Greg Kelly, has been accused by a paralegal of raping her during an encounter in her downtown office.
The commissioner has said through a spokesman that a man believed to be the accuser’s boyfriend recently confronted the top cop at a public event and accused his son of “ruining my girlfriend’s life.”
Kelly asked the man to explain what he meant, Browne said Thursday.
But the man refused, saying he didn’t want to discuss the matter with so many people around. Kelly then suggested the man send him a letter, but Browne said it appears no such letter was ever sent.
The woman went to the 13th Precinct stationhouse Tuesday night and told cops that Greg Kelly had raped her in October.
The NYPD, citing a potential conflict of interest, quickly recused itself from the investigation and turned the matter over to the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
The DA’s office has its own investigators with arrest powers, but they are considered by some to be less seasoned than their NYPD counterparts.
It was unclear if NYPD investigators assigned to the DA’s office have been told not to get involved in the case.
rparascandola@nydailynews.com
