Following months of allegations of sexual abuse, including one from his own sister, Kirsten McKinney, Gary Thomas “Tom” Keesee, a son of Gary and Drenda Keesee, founders and senior pastors of Faith Life Church in Ohio, was indicted by a grand jury on 27 counts of sex crimes, including 11 counts of rape.
The indictment was announced by the Licking County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.
In addition to the 11 counts of rape, Keesee was also charged with 11 counts of gross sexual imposition, and five counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. A copy of the indictment cited by The Columbus Dispatch alleges that Keesee, 36, committed the rapes between May 2002 and November 2006. Licking County Prosecutor Jenny Wells revealed at a press conference that investigators interviewed approximately 40 witnesses and three victims have already come forward.
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“These courageous young women have spoken out and come forward and they are to be commended for their bravery and supported,” Wells said. “They’re very serious charges that we considered.”
Wells stated that all the victims were members of Faith Life Church at some point and they were 6 to 15 years old when the alleged abuses took place. One victim alleges in a criminal complaint that Keesee sexually assaulted her when she was 5 and 6 years old, starting in May 2001 and ending in May 2003. Another victim accused him of touching her private areas “repeatedly,” starting in November 2006, when she was 8 years old, until she was 15.
Keesee is scheduled to be arraigned in Knox County on Wednesday.
“Gary Thomas Keesee Jr. will be held in the Licking County Justice Center. This investigation is still ongoing and we are asking anyone with any information to contact Captain Jay Cook or Captain Gus Moore,” the Licking County Sheriff’s Office said in its release.
Keesee, who served as the former chief media officer at Faith Life Church, according to LinkedIn, resigned from the position last August.
Prior to the indictment on Monday, Keesee’s father, Pastor Gary Keesee, insisted in February that there is “another side” to the story.
“All hell is breaking loose out there … but truth will prevail,” Gary Keesee said during one of three services at the church’s New Albany site in February, according to a Knox Pages report. “There’s another side. And the truth will come out.”
Keesee’s mother, Dendra Keesee, who was recently elected as a Knox County commissioner, also asked God to forgive “those who hurt us” as she denied the allegations against her son in February.
“Those who know us know what they say are not true,” she said.
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