Rather than stand trial for allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old Oxford High School girl, William Arthur Keely chose to take his own life early Monday morning in a single cell at the Oakland County Jail.
At 5:25 a.m., deputies discovered the 65-year-old Brandon man had killed himself by slitting his wrists using a small piece of metal from a soft cast he was wearing on one of his wrists for a tendon injury.
‘He was not on a suicide watch at the time this occurred,? said Undersheriff Mike McCabe. ‘We have counselors in here that constantly evaluate (inmates).?
On Tuesday, the undersheriff confirmed Keely’s death was officially ruled a suicide by the Oakland County Medical Examiner.
According to McCabe, Keely left a suicide note behind in his cell, but he declined to reveal the contents of the message.
However, he confirmed ‘there was no apology and no admission of guilt? contained in the note.
Unable to post a $6.5 million cash bond, Keely’s been in custody since his arrest June 30, 2008 after he allegedly sexually assaulted the girl by touching her private areas a few days earlier and telling her ‘your body wants it.?
Prior to that, in April 2008, he allegedly convinced the victim to begin testing a variety of sex toys at his home under the ruse she would be paid by a company to rate them.
Keely was awaiting trial in circuit court before Judge Rudy Nichols on a total of 13 charges including child sexual abuse activity (three counts), fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct (one count), being a felon in possession of a firearm (four counts), being in possession of a firearm during the commission of felony (four counts) and furnishing obscene material to a child (one count).
Since his arrival at the county jail, Keely was housed in what McCabe called ‘K Block,? an area for inmates with ‘mental health issues and emotional issues.?
‘It’s an area where we have a deputy on the floor at all times,? the undersheriff said. ‘Each one of these cells is an individual cell with a glass window on it, so we can see in the cells at all times.?
Apparently, Keely wasn’t exhibiting any out-of-the-ordinary behavior prior to or during his suicide.
‘They could see him in there and it appeared that he was sleeping because he was laying on his side, so there was no reason to suspect that there was anything wrong,? McCabe explained.
Despite this latest incident, McCabe noted suicides at the jail are a rare occurrence.
‘We’ve had eight suicides in the last 20 years and for a facility our size, that’s pretty remarkable, quite frankly,? he said. ‘At one time, we went 11 years in a row without a suicide here.?
This wasn’t the first time Keely had been charged with sexually assaulting a young girl.
In April 2001, a jury convicted him of four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carries a maximum life sentence, after his 14-year-old foster daughter reported having sexual intercourse with him on two occasions.
However, Circuit Court Judge Edward Sosnick set aside the conviction. Keely was allowed to plead no contest to four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and serve 10 months in county jail.
Keely’s wife, Margaret Sullivan Keely, a former Oxford High School teacher, is awaiting a jury trial set for 8:30 a.m. June 18 in Clarkston 52-2 District Court.
She’s charged with failure to report child abuse as a mandated reporter (i.e. a teacher), a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail.
Margaret Keely befriended the victim and introduced her to her husband in 2006, when the girl was a 14-year-old freshman. Even though they met at OHS, the victim was not a student of Margaret Keely’s.
As a result of the criminal charge against her, Margaret Keely’s termination from the Oxford school district, where she’d taught since August 1984, became official Sept. 22, 2008.