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A former Ohio mayor indicted on rape charges reportedly confessed
that he had sex with a child — a young girl, who, the man claimed,
was a willing participant.
Court records filed Monday describe conversations in which Richard
Keenan — who briefly served as the mayor of Hubbard — talked to
several people, including his wife and a pastor, about alleged
assaults that occurred over the course of two years, beginning in
2013, when the girl was 4.
The 65-year-old Keenan, who once described himself as a man of
faith, was indicted last month on eight counts of gross sexual
imposition, eight counts of rape and four counts of attempted rape.
According to court documents filed by Trumbull County Assistant
Prosecuting Attorney Gabriel Wildman, Keenan’s wife confronted him
after the girl talked about the alleged abuse.
“I did it,” Keenan told his wife, according to court records.
Keenan was later admitted to Trumbull Memorial Hospital’s
psychiatric ward in Warren, Ohio. He said during group discussions
there that he had been sexually abusing a child for two years,
according to court records.
He was released from the hospital and admitted to the River Bend
Treatment Center, where he told an intake social worker that he was
feeling suicidal because of his actions and that the girl willingly participated in the sex acts, according to court records.
Keenan talked in more detail with a local pastor about the alleged
abuse, saying it began when the child walked in on him in the
bathroom, according to court records. It’s unclear how he and the
child knew each other.
In a phone conversation with his brother- and sister-in-law, Keenan
said he had gone way over the line, court records say.
According to the court records, the alleged crimes began in
September 2013, nearly two years after Keenan left the mayor’s
office in Hubbard, a small town in northeastern Ohio. The sexual
assaults ended in September 2015, according to prosecutors.
Keenan was indicted and arrested Aug. 18. He was released on bond
the same day, online jail records show.
His attorney, J. Gerald Ingram, did not return a call seeking
comment.
Wildman, the assistant prosecuting attorney, declined to comment on
the case.
Keenan, a Democrat, was sworn in as mayor in January 2010 and served
until 2011. He previously served as a council member and a probation
officer, according to the Vindicator newspaper. He also worked as a
car inspector for the CSX railroad company in New Castle, Pa.
“I care about his town,” Keenan said in a 2010 interview with the Vindicator. “I’m pulled to hear the heart of the people.”
At the time, Keenan said he had dedicated his life to Christ — a
decision that he said changed his life.
“Don’t preach it, but live it,” he told the paper.
A 4-year-old found beaten and abused said she thought her name was
‘Idiot,’ according to police
Keenan pleaded not guilty last month. He’s scheduled for a jury
trial in April.
His wife could be called as a witness at the trial. According to the
Ohio Rules of Evidence, a defendant’s spouse can be a competent
witness if the alleged crime was committed against him or her or
their child, or if he or she elects to testify.
If found guilty of rape, Keenan could face life imprisonment.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/true-crime/wp/2016/09/14/ex- mayor-charged-in-4-year-olds-rape-said-the-girl-was-a-willing- participant-records-say/
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