Kelley Williams on Going to Jail for Trying to Give Her Daughters a Better Education

So it's the destroy with the system that he just was like,

“I believe this world is he never came home, he died in the military.”

When I was able to see him, he was in the hospital. He had to go to a hospital, right? And in Ohio, the hospital is in Columbus. Or it was at that time. And I feel like no matter where you were in prison at,

if you're in the state of Ohio, I feel like they continue to Columbus. I was able to see him a few times. They had his legs shackled to the bed. They had his arm shackled to the bed. And by this point, he's not talking.

He's had several strokes.

I mean, he was all dialysis.

They put him all dialysis. If I think it was all it is for education. Americans are capable of achieving extraordinary things

“when they have the freedom and opportunity to do so.”

This is American Potential. Our guest today is Kelly Williamsville. She's a mom who wanted to get her girls the best education fellow. And registered them to attend school in the district where her parents met. For that, who's prosecuted, sent to jail along with dad.

I want to welcome Kelly the podcast to share her story with you. Kelly, welcome. I thank you so much for having me. Yeah, thanks for joining us. This is such a compelling story.

I mean, it speaks so much to like what we've talked about a lot. It's really just government overreach. Just the power of government run a buck. Not acting in the interest really of students with citizens. So I'm really excited to, you know, I'm familiar with their story.

And I'm really excited to help. To share this with our audience. So talk to me about what the school was like that your girls. We're going to that your zone for that you're living in. And and what why did you want to switch?

So the school that my daughters were attending was accurate public schools. And they just it was it was it was several different reasons. I would just daughter it was bullying involved with her. And then also the academically. I want to say it was a great F in that district at that time.

I don't know what it is now, but at that time it was definitely a failing district. So I had those two components and then I was in college. I had just got a divorce. I was in college and and I was on my own and my parents wanted to help me. And that's how all that even began.

So did your parents suggest that that you. Kind of that you use their address. Yes, absolutely so my father was my dad my dad. He had been saying it for a while ever since I got my divorce my dad was like, We just bring him out here.

You know, I got you know, I got a yes, he had a very nice. Yeah, just built. He didn't just build a home home had been what maybe 10 years old. If that and he built this beautiful home, we had property land and everything. And he was like, this comes to here with us are in role of here while you're in school.

I'm, you know, I can help out with them and my father used to be an entrepreneur himself. So he had several he had gotten sick and he had like a stroke. So he was home and being that he was home and he was still mobile. He could still get about he was just like bring him out here and I can watch him get on and off the bus.

Because in that district, everyone basically you don't walk to that school is kind of.

You know, so everyone basically catches the bus or, you know, right.

“And so that's how it began is that my father was like, just bring him out here.”

So I decided to take them out there and I remember. I initially went to the elementary school first. There, their school district, the, everything is close and right together. It's not like at minutes, some far distant place, right. So I went to at, I went to the elementary school.

And I remember the principal met me at the door and he was a very nice gentleman. And he was like, you know, you want me to show you around and I'm like, yeah, that'd be nice. Thank you. So he showed me around and I'm looking around like, oh my goodness. This is like state of the art building at that time.

They had an entire room and not just a small room. It was a big room and it was just like a computer room. And so my mind is like, this is great for my daughters. Then they took me to there. There, um, what is the where it, you know, it's like a, it's beyond science.

I forgot what it's called.

And they had these green rooms, I mean, um, green, green houses, right.

“With all, and I was like, this is acres and acres.”

The school, my daughters was going to, they were doing what I was doing at school, where you, where you take a styrofoam cup and you put dirt in it and water and you put it in the window sill. So, you know, just seeing those two things right there. So, me, I was like, oh, I definitely want my daughters to attend this, this school. So, that's when the process began.

So, I started in rolling them. I got the paperwork and everything. I did use my parents' address. And I mean, I was really at my parents' house a lot. Anyway, I was truly a mom and daddy's girl.

Like, I was always there.

And so, I enrolled them. They were there for the first year.

“Uh, really wasn't really wasn't too much.”

You had, they hired this liaison. And the liaison, her, her job was to come to your home and she could come there any given time. You know, I guess in reasonable hours, but she could come at any given time. And she can ask to see your bedroom, your bathroom, your closet. She can see if the, if the, if you know if my girls were there.

And that was a, I, I kind of felt awkward about it. But I was just like, you know, whatever. I mean, we're here all the time. My kids got plenty of clothes here. Five bit was, was a four bit room home.

And, um, I mean, it was just, they had everything there that they had at my home. You know, so I didn't think anything of it. But that was, that was the first year. And then the second year, the first couple of weeks of school has started. And we got, I received the letter saying that we have clear and convincing evidence that your children do not live here.

They had hired a private investigator to follow me around for a couple of weeks. And I want to say in court is said 14 days, but I could be wrong. But I know it was a couple of weeks. And they followed me around town to see, you know, my whereabouts and everything like that. And I didn't, I didn't know about it.

I don't know what I'm going to say, so the school district hired a private investigator to follow you around to see if your girls should be enrolled at their school. Right.

I mean, that's, that's incredible.

Isn't it? I mean, that's, first of all, it's enormous expense for what was trying to hear. That seems not proportionate. But, uh, wow, that, that seems above and beyond in terms of what government should be doing. It's, it's pretty disproportionate.

I mean, that's crazy. How many parents do you know that they had to be selective in the individuals that they wanted to do that with because I just felt like that would be so expensive. Just to follow everyone around to see if they lead, you know, live in the district or not. So it's interesting that you guys even entered into or at least thought about it into a power of attorney agreement where your parents had power of attorney over the girls. Is that true?

Yes, they have, yes. So I went to our our system is at the juvenile delinquency center, you know, so I went to just T. Adocio. And she was one of the serving judges for juvenile delinquents, but, but at that court is where you can get the grandparent power for attorney.

So we didn't get it the first year, but we did get it the second year, but they didn't want the grandparent power for attorney.

I was like on the school, but if you, if like if you had went on their website at the time, they accepted the grandparent power for attorney, like it wasn't like they didn't accept it online. So we went, we got it. They were fighting against that tremendous, they, they, I didn't even know how much they were fighting until. Okay, let me go back.

Let me go back. So just so the second year again, I received the, I received, not an indictment. I received a letter just stating that we have clearing convincing evidence that your children do not live here. Okay, so that comes from the private eye. Okay, so then we had to go to a meeting.

So we went to the meeting, talked to the superintendent, the treasurer, and I don't know. Maybe someone else was there too, but I know those were the two important things that I remember. And so me and my dad went, and so we were just all talking and, and, and, but that was like, you know, what is the, what's the big deal I pay taxes? They're here, you know, I land taxes and I pay my house taxes. You know, they're my grandchildren, you know, and so they just was like, and they were not bad.

“Like, it wasn't like my daughters were behavior students. Now, were they straight A students?”

No, they weren't absolutely not. They were average C, you know, maybe be on some things, but they were just average kids. And so, so, so that, so they were fighting at.

So then, um, in June, I got a letter from just T adults, he'll say, and you know what?

They're fighting at just remove them. I did. When they just said, move them, I moved them. I got them out. They went back to the, they went back to their acroph other schools. A year ago, by eight to, it was a total of 18 months that went by.

And then I received an indictment. And it came in the mail. And so. Well, I'm the kind of person in the, yeah. In the mail, and I'm the kind of person that, so this almost looked like, uh, uh, junk mail to me. Okay. Like, when you, so, because it was in a, it was a postcard. It wasn't a formal letter.

It wasn't priority mail. It wasn't a, where you got to get it signed. Like, the, you know, the post office, post, post, post, post, post person coming to your door and say, hey, you got to sign this. It was not that it was literally a postcard. So I'm looking at it and it said, it said, Kelly, it said, oh, high overs, it's Kelly, we as both are.

I was like, what is that? I've never been a trouble before.

I really didn't know indictments coming to mail, like that, especially.

“So, um, I remember I caught my father and I was like, hey, Daddy, I got this card.”

This is Ohio versus Kelly Williams baller. And to me, that was almost like a set up because if I didn't have any common sense, I would have thought this is trash. And now I would have had a worn out or my rest. So I go to my, my father tells me to come over.

I go to his house. And so we're sitting there, we waited for his mail to write. This is my old rant a couple hours after mine. Now mind you, me and my parents, we lived off of one main street, which was called Cockley Road.

Our parents lived in Cockley, township. But we both lived off of the off of Cockley. I lived on a street called Hartford. And they ran right into Cockley and I would turn left and go out to their home. It was what?

Three and a half miles away. So it wasn't like I was going across town. It was literally three. It took me 10 minutes max to get there. So I'm sitting there.

He gets the indictment too. So now the process begins. So now we go to court and we're sitting there.

I've never been in court before.

I didn't know how I work. I'm sitting there and I'm looking at all these people coming in. I'm talking about rapists murderers. People are people that thought, you know, a thought charges. It's real.

They're shackled up in a big, long line with the uniform. And that's that state in my mind so much because I'm like, What did we do to warrant that? To warrant this situation right now. And so.

And how long was this?

“From when you moved your girls back to the failing school?”

Eighteen months later. So you're going to have to after you moved them back. You got it. It was over here. Yes, over here, over here, over here.

So we're sitting there. They call us to the front. You know, I'm looking at her. I'm looking at the judge, cross-growth. I'm looking at the court reporter.

Just everything's just playing in my mind. Like this is not really happening. And so we. That's the beginning. So, oh, so then of course, we want it.

My father's like, you know, no, we're going to spend on this. This is not we shouldn't be this. This should not be happening. So. Gotta go to court now.

So now that's another process. So we go to court. And they're picking jurors. They're picking jurors.

“And so we're sitting there and we're waiting on the jurors to be picked.”

But in the prosecutors in the. In my attorney. That process began. They picked out the jurors. And then we went to court court went on for maybe three, four days.

It was a long. Everything was a long process. And I got. I got. Charge with.

Brandt that. Temperament documents and something else. It was like three charges. And then instead of Ohio. If you get.

If you get two charges. I believe it's two charges in the state of Ohio. You can only get one removed and they will charge me with three different things. Grant that tabby with documents. I can't remember the third. I've never as always hard for me. We remember the third. And I believe I can't remember because they end up dropping it. They're dropping it because of the attention that came with this. You know, it just ought to know where just people started hearing about it. And so they did drop that one. But anyway. So I'm sitting in court.

And the projector showing my children's personal information like the Social Security number and minds. It's just like so like you just don't have no rights.

“And you haven't even been convicted yet. And you don't have any rights. They just take.”

They just take everything. And I was and, you know, of course, I was convicted and sentenced to 10 days in jail. I had 80 hours of community service. I had to write a letter to the judge saying, you know, why.

You know, what I would do different and why and, you know, why basically I was charged. Oh, my goodness. It was a lot to this.

Oh, I had to keep going back to every week. It started off every week. I had to go back every week to my I had to go back to her house for a role officer to check in. And I was on probation for a couple of years. It was just a lot. It was so, so it was I went into a deep depression. My dad went to jail too. We both, if you look at the old footage from good morning, yeah, if you look at the footage from good morning America, you will see my father and I.

“And he was going to go on trial sitting right beside each other when all this was going on. And I just, I just remember.”

I was really sad that my father had gotten involved in this too because, you know, he was older. He was sick. He had every element of person can have. I mean, he was a diabetic. He had gaued. He had a hypertension. He had a.

It's going blind. And so he just had a lot to him. And it's like, Oh, my God, this is not helping any of that with him.

And what happened was they had to drop my dad's charges because we, he went through the whole trial with us with me. And then at the end. They had to drop his charges. But they could, you know, of course, they convicted me. And I, I want to jail for 10, I served. I was supposed to serve 10 days. So they let me out nine days after the ninth day. So before I get to my father's park is that's so sensitive to me.

“I'm trying to hold my, keep myself together. I do want to say, when they took me away. I just remember, they take you, they take you down. There's a whole world underneath the court.”

And underneath there is where all the prisoners go. And underneath there's where all the prisoners go to maybe the van. And then the van takes you to your takes you to the, you know, the county. And then I guess if you have to go to actual prison, then they take you there to put so anyway. So I just remember sitting there. I, I just from your, oh my goodness, I was a wreck, complete wreck, non stop waterfall, just complete wreck could not stop, good enough stop. And I want to say, I was, yeah, I was handcuff during that whole time.

And I was looking at all the other prisoners, they were, they were bringing a shipping prisoners in and out. It was like cattle. It was like everybody was like cattle just moving from one place to the other and then they got me and they put me in the, in the van. And I went to the county to the on the women's side and I went off the jail and I was, I just remember not, I wasn't able to say goodbye to my children. I wasn't able to, you know, it was just daunting, it was just horrible to me, you know, it's funny because I got fairly members that, you know, they get in trouble, they've gotten in trouble quite a few times.

So they was like, oh, you, you suck it up, you are all right, I'm like, no, I'm not all right, this, I was 40 years old and nothing like that ever happened. No, that's, I mean, jailed as a normal, normalizing experience, someone can go through. That's awful, all because you wanted to get to get the mediation possible, that's unbelievable. That was, they probably shouldn't because you were a pencil in that. Yes, my parents live there and I just wanted the best for my daughters, you'd like anybody. And I didn't think I did anything that wrong and oh my god, I'm so sorry, I don't mean to do that.

No, fine, but I didn't think that anything that wrong. And so my dad, so they said him to jail and what happened with him, they had to drop his charges. But my father was like, I'm sick. I'm on disability or, you know, or he said he was he was sick and that he needed medical attention. So so does he said that they went looking into, they went looking into that and they tried and then it was like,

at a certain age, you're supposed to switch over, was this you did?

We're going to say that you stole a thousand, a hundred thousand dollars worth of medical insurance. But then I was like, medical, medical, he was like, this wasn't where fair. Like this wasn't, you know, you hear about well welfare fraud on a time. He was like, that's not that this is a disability. This is how, you know, but they were so bad because it really started getting a lot of attention and let me tell you something. And the courthouses, they want these things to stay in that fishbow. They do not want it side of their, their arena. And if it now, because now the masses starting to hear what's going on and you got all these,

they said that they had to unplug in the chamber front and in the judges chambers, they had to unplug the fall from her wall.

“That's how many people that was calling in that when this was on transpiring.”

And, and, okay, so yeah, so my, my dad, so they, they ended up saying that he had stolen that money and they took him to jail took him to jail said put him in the penitentiary for an entire year. Oh, my, the state penitentiary, that's awful. It's meant to a penitimate that my father never been to a penitentiary. And that's no matter what crime you commit, the person you're bunking with could be a rapist could be a pedophile could be a killer murder. So he's in there with these people. He's old and these are young boys man that could probably, you know, probably even, you know, harm my father.

“And I just remember, I just remember in July, so so he went in in May.”

In July, my birthday is the 15th of July and my father's birthday is the 17th of July. And I just remember he was able to call. So he called and he said, I can't walk. And I said, what do you mean? I said, what do you mean? He said, I can't walk. He said, I have something called. See, did see, did see, did see, did a nurse would know or a doctor would know exactly what I'm trying to say. And what happens is when you're in a facility like that, the doctors, if, if you're a medicine, doctors really don't care about

washing their hands after one patient to the next. So they, so they give you medicine. And then they go to the next person to give that person their medicine. Now they're just handing this off. So they're not washing their hands in between.

“And that's how you, that's my understanding of how you end up getting seated. And that's what my father, the end of getting seated.”

So he couldn't, so he lost his ability to walk. And so that was trauma, right? Because we like, oh my God, you know, you can make it. I'm trying to talk to him every day. You can make it. We're going to be okay. Everything's going to be fine. And I'm trying to go see him. And they act like we were buying a client like I was A, he was B. They wouldn't let me go see him initially. And I, you know, and I wanted to see him because I didn't know how his, his, his health was, if he was, his health was fairly.

And they wouldn't let me go see him for the longest. And finally, the judge, Cosgrove, did a, she did something where I could see him. So I was able to go see him.

But he just he, my father was a fighter, but I think he got so distroyed with the system that he, just was like, I'm an exit. I believe this world, because he never came home. He died in a pititory. And it's like, it's like, when I was able to see him. They, he was in the hospital. He had to go to the hospital, right? And then Ohio, the hospital is in Columbus or it was at that time. And I, I feel like no matter where you were in prison at if you're in the state of Ohio, I feel like they, they did you to Columbus to Ohio, Ohio State University has.

But they're there. If I'm correct, it's been some years now. When we went down there, I believe it was, it was at, by the university. So it is like way up highs, like on a top floor where all the prisoners go, that's where they, they send them like on the 17th floor or something. I don't, it was up there. I remember, I remember when I was able to see him a few times and he was shackled to the bed. They had his legs shackled to the bed. They had his arms shackled to the bed. He, by this point, he's not talking. He's had several strokes.

It wasn't even, it wasn't even like, like, I'm, like, it was some private school. It was a public education. And so, you know, when I talk about it and I go back on it and I remember everything, it just, I'm so, I do apologize. It just brings up all the. What's incredible is extraordinary lengths at the school district and the school officials and then the league, the prosecutors, the judge went to be punitive to you and your dad to like make you pay a price.

Because you wanted to get your kids a better education. It's not even like your parents aren't paying taxes, they pay taxes.

It's, it's such, you know, we talked all the time about government overreach on the show, but I mean, in this case, it was really punitive and had real world impact, a terrible impact on you and your family. For example, I was just going to say, to me, it was like, over zealous prosecution, you know, we had to lose our home, our house, you know, I live in an apartment now, got my mom with me because of course, that can't be provide for anything because he's dead. So it's just, you know, it was just over zealous prosecution, you know, it's just a lie.

Oh, yeah. So your story did catch for good reason, kind of got some worldwide attention and how did that happen?

“You know, the best thing I could think of at the time was I had, it's a funny story that you asked me that.”

I had an auntie who lived in Georgia and she knew what kind of person I was and she was like, no, no, you're not a criminal.

And at that time, oh my god, what is, okay, so I got to tell you the story, you want to know how it caught attention, it was my aunt who did this, this is amazing.

That caught, what does that feed when you watch the national news and it's a feed down at the bottom? What does that call? Like a crawl along the bottom. It's so, yeah, but you, you, you, you sometimes you see it with the stocks and bars and stuff too, right? Okay, so back then, so back then, what she did was, and she tells the story where she stayed up.

She said, I stayed up for like two or three days literally. She did not go to sleep. She said, I just was drinking coffee.

“She said, I'm gonna find out how to put this story in that feed.”

I was like, you know, I didn't know, okay, so they weren't, I wasn't jail when I was a satinit, right? I was in jail. So I didn't know what was taking place. This is the story she told me once we got out and settled. She says, she says, um, I stayed up, I stayed up for three days. She said, I was drinking coffee. She said, my husband thought I was going to die because she said, this is not going to happen to my niece. She found out how to attach it to the feed and she put it and she ordered it mother and jail mother faces jail felony charges.

You know, for public education, for sending her kids to her parents and she said, she said, literally, when she put it in there and she said, literally, she watched it go through. And she said, next thing you know, everybody just started talking about it and it went and it did. It was on, it was on every, I guess when I got home, it didn't die now. No, actually, because I remember some TV show talk show was talking about it. And I'm in another room. I met my parents house, but I'm in another room.

And I hear somebody like you could hear the screen, right? And what I went to the living room to see, it was me. It was me that was screaming on the TV because it was me welding going off to jail. And I just sat there and I was like, oh my god. That had to be true. It was, it was, I was just a certain point. You know, I just won't ever forget.

Now, my job, this has been a while now, it's been since 2011, 2012.

“So it's been a long time, but there are certain things that I will never forget.”

And definitely, you know, seeing that or seeing the news or seeing night, it was on, it was on 2020. It was on nightline. It was on Dr. Phil. I was on Dr. Phil. I went on the talk. Yeah, I went on the talk. I was with Julie Chan. Yeah, Julie Chan. She interviewed me. She was wonderful. I am saying her name correctly, I think. She was wonderful.

It was on the talk. Would be goberg. The gentleman's wife, she talked about me all the time. The gentleman, he just passed. He was a rock star.

His wife, she has to access. She's from London. She always consisted of cat.

Like they just kept talking about it. And I think that pushed it out even more to the mass, you know, to people. Well, so you asked. I mean, it's such a story of, it's such a story of injustice, you know. It's like incredible government overreach just kind of owns malicious prosecution. It's terrible. So it has it hasn't really, so I know you've shared this with lawmakers.

And, you know, have you seen anything change in Ohio due to the conversations you've had and the story that you've been able to tell.

You know, I haven't, I know we always talk about laws and and I see things on the on the on the table.

But to actually have something change here. Well, it's always a discussion. I feel like here. Like our papers and then talk about certain things and you know, they say, well, you know, that's unconstitutional. And they talk about that and elaborate about how the system is made here.

“But if you ask me, have I actually seen anything change?”

I want to say, I want to say, overall, no, but I know there's definitely on the table and it's always discussion. They're always talking about it. But I have been able to change in like Connecticut, you know, that that law changed there. I've been able to speak about it all across the country. I've done work with the bush with with with jet bush or more than one occasion.

You know, you see, he does a lot of educational, you know, events. And so, you know, on a national level, yes, but just locally, I don't know.

Not yet. I'm working on it though.

Yeah, no, I think there's opportunity. There is. It just goes to show. I mean, you know, the idea that children should be stuck in failing schools. At the prime of their life for, I mean, they need good education. We're not, you know, it's not like, oh, we'll come in 10 years. Well, those kids get left behind. And the fact that you were trying to just get your kids the best education possible.

And you had grant, you know, their grandparents who could do it. And then you were just sent to jail and prosecuted and, you know, having your dad. It's just such a tragedy. And I'm glad that you're able to, you know, be passes. And you can tell the story and hopefully, hopefully, it doesn't, you know, it doesn't happen to others.

But, you know, so often government doesn't work for us or for its citizens. It's, it's, it's working in its own interests.

And failing schools and trapping kids of them is one of the biggest,

“most, I think one of the most delicious ways that it does that.”

So I applaud you for trying to champion, you know, your girls. I, I'm so proud of people. It wasn't like I used, I don't know, McDonald's address or Taco Bell's address. It's my parents' address. Right.

Well, it seems even the system's wrong. The fact that somebody could, you know, the whole idea. Even if you're, we're using a, you know, fake address. I mean, you know, yeah, I get it and violate a lot of the time. But why are we trapping everybody like this?

Yeah. Yeah. Well, tell, I really appreciate you sharing the story with us. It's, uh, the great reminder of a mother's love for kids and the need for choice and education.

And then just the, the really dangerous power that government and, you know, motivated prosecutors can have to, to really, really damage people's lives. Yes. Yes. Losing your home.

Losing my father. You know, you know, I was very private person. Next thing you know, you know, everybody knows. I'm walking, I, and then the irony, you know, working education. So I'm walking the halls.

And people are, you know, talking to me and kids are talking. You students are talking about me and they're seeing me in the magazines and they're seeing me on paper and they're seeing me in real life. And, uh, you know, one day I'm, some of the people are doing documentaries on me. I don't even know about it.

I'm sitting in the classroom. I'm helping a student. And she says, boy, that, that woman really favors you.

“And I'm like, I didn't even look up because why would I think I'm in a documentary?”

So I'm like, oh, okay, you know, keep doing your assignment. She said, no, she really looks like you. And I look up and like, that's me. Wow. I'm in a classroom.

You know, people are doing documentaries. And I'm like, wait, you know, because they're seeing me, you know, maybe go to jail. I'll sit in the classroom. And they see me in white black or so. I don't know.

It was just, it was just a very interesting time, a depressing time to, you know. Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm so, I'm sorry, you went through all that. Really am. And I appreciate you using your voice to kind of highlight problems in the system,

Thank you for having me. Thank you so much.

Thanks, Kelly.

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