Grace Kelley Breaks Silence on Alleged Abuse and Wynonna Judd’s Role in Cover-Up
Riley Carter here, your semi-casual observer of life’s messier chapters—because let’s be real, drama is everywhere, but not all of us get to air it on national news. Anyway, buckle up, because this one’s a doozy.
Okay cool, so like, Wynonna Judd’s daughter, Grace Kelley, just dropped some major truth bombs about her past—and they’re not the kind you can sweep under the rug with a designer rug and a PR team. In a rare interview with The Daily Progress, Kelley, now 29, opened up about alleged sexual abuse by her former stepfather, D.R. Roach, and accused her mother of covering it up instead of protecting her.
Let’s rewind a bit. Wynonna Judd married Roach back in 2003, and their marriage lasted until his arrest in 2007 for sexual battery against a minor. The victim’s identity wasn’t publicly revealed at the time, but Kelley claims that Judd knew the truth long before the headlines hit. According to Kelley, the abuse was uncovered during family counseling sessions, which were meant to “fix” things—but instead led to law enforcement getting involved. Days after Roach’s arrest, Judd filed for divorce.
Kelley didn’t hold back when describing what she says happened next. “So is my mom rich? Yeah, she’s so rich that she was able to sweep me under the rug and abuse me and then cover it all up,” she told the outlet. “I don’t want to talk bad about my mom, but we’ll just say she’s a good performer. She was never a mother.”
It gets heavier. Kelley said between the ages of 12 and 17, she was placed in 14 different facilities—a turbulent adolescence that she attributes to the trauma she endured. Despite being part of a high-profile family (her aunt is Ashley Judd, and her late grandmother was Naomi Judd), Kelley struggled with addiction and brushes with the law, including a 2024 arrest for soliciting prostitution.
But she’s also trying to turn things around. Now sober and religious, Kelley is working on a memoir and believes “the truth will set you free.” Meanwhile, Roach pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated sexual battery and is listed on Tennessee’s sex offender registry.
Judd, for her part, addressed Roach’s arrest in a 2010 interview with Oprah Winfrey, saying he was out of the house within an hour of learning what had happened. At the time, she refused to speak further about the case out of respect for the child involved—though now, decades later, she’s revealed that she too was molested as a child, at age 12, which she discussed in the documentary *The Judd Family: Truth Be Told*.
In the meantime, Judd has taken custody of Kelley’s three-year-old daughter, Kaliyah, while Kelley continues to work through her personal challenges.
This story isn’t just tabloid fodder—it’s a complex web of trauma, silence, and legacy. Whether or not you believe Kelley’s version of events, the emotional toll is evident. And for Judd fans, this revelation adds another layer to a life already marked by public grief and private pain.
Anyway, that’s the deal. Do with it what you will.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and The Daily Progress, New York Post, Oprah Winfrey Show (2010), Documentary “The Judd Family: Truth Be Told”
Generated by AI
