An Oxford High School teacher who is charged in connection with her husband in a sexual assault on a 16-year-old OHS student allegedly sought to illegally acquire the girl’s records from the high school, according to a prosecution statement, July 15, during a hearing in 52-2 District Court, Independence Township.
Assistant Prosecutor Hala Jarbou told District Judge Dana Fortinberry that Margaret Keely allegedly contacted two employees at the high school recently and sought the girl’s records.
Jarbou said possessing the student’s confidential records would have been illegal.
Keely is free on a $10,000, 10 percent bond on a misdemeanor charge of failure to report child abuse. One of the bond conditions placed on her during her arraignment two weeks ago before Fortinberry is that she could not go onto OHS property.
Following the news that Keely allegedly tried to get the victim’s records, Fortinberry added an additional condition that Keely cannot contact employees of the district.
Oxford Superintendent Dr. Bill Skilling was in the courtroom during the hearing and Jarbou said that Skilling also insisted that Keely not contact employees of the district.
Keelys? attorney, Richard Rosenberg argued that Keely was only trying to help build her defense in her attempts to get the records, but said she would abide by the conditions of bond.
Keely is charged in connection with her husband, William A. Keely, 64, of Brandon Township. He faces a total of 13 counts, including sexual assaults against the 16-year-old girl and being a felon in possession of firearms.
William Keely has prior felony convictions for sexual assaults against a 14-year-old girl and is a registered sex offender.
He is charged with three counts of child sexual abuse activity, one count of fourth degree criminal sexual conduct, and one count of furnishing obscene material to a child. Furnishing obscene material to a minor is a misdemeanor. The other charges are felonies.
Keely also is charged with four counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and four counts of possession of firearms in the commission of felonies.
A total of 20 guns, including handguns, shotguns and rifles, some of which were loaded, were seized by police from the Keely home, in Brandon Township.
The girl, 16, was befriended by the Keelys and frequently did odd jobs at their home. However, according to the charges, William Keely allegedly paid the girl to try various sexual arousal devices and told her he wanted to know how well they worked. Dozens of sexual devices have been seized by police and will be tested for DNA evidence.
He also allegedly showed her pornographic images on a computer.
In addition, it is alleged that William Keely also attempted to sexually assault the girl on June 26. According to police reports, Keely invited the girl to his home to watch a movie and then touched her private areas and tried to put his hands down her pants.
The victim ran away, told a friend and police were called.
During the hearing on Tuesday, Rosenberg filed a motion requesting that Fortinberry recuse herself from hearing the case against the couple.
Rosenberg based his argument on the fact that Fortinberry placed a $500,000 bond on each count, making the total more than $6 million, and the fact that the judge ordered the couple not to communicate with each other.
“The court has an emotional bias,? Rosenberg said.
He pointed to one of the charges ? the misdemeanor ? which also has a $500,000 bond as evidence of bias.
Fortinberry said she placed the high bond on William Keely for several reasons, including the fact that he has prior felony sexual assault convictions, possessed many firearms, and has a total of 13 new counts. The judge also noted that Keely has a pilot’s license, which he was previously ordered to surrender to the court along with his passport.
“None of this was due to personal bias on my part,? Fortinberry said. ‘There is no basis to recuse myself.?
Rosenberg said he wanted to appeal the ruling. Under court rules, the appeal must be heard by the chief judge of the district.
Fortinberry said a hearing would be set soon.
Skilling said prior to the Keely hearing, that no determination has yet been made about whether she may be terminated from her teaching position.
He said conviction of a misdemeanor does not necessarily mean she could be terminated. A felony conviction would automatically lead to dismissal under state law. Keely currently faces only a misdemeanor.
“If the district finds that what a teacher has done is of a serious enough nature, even if in a court of law it is a misdemeanor, it may be grounds to move forward on tenure charges,? Skilling said. Tenure charges is a term used to remove a teacher from her job.
“I don’t want to presume guilt here,? Skilling said. ‘We have to look at many things.?