Update: Victims sue the parents (who are also the senior pastors) over the alleged sexual assault (source)
Gary Thomas Keesee Jr., 36, was arrested last month on 11 charges of rape, 11 counts of gross sexual imposition, and five counts of sexual conduct with a minor.
https://abc6onyourside.com/news/local/former-faith-life-church-leader-gary-thomas-keesee-jr-faces-more-charges-after-new-indictment-knox-county-new-albany-licking-county
Commentary
This case isn’t like many of the others reported on the site. In this case the person is accused of committing these crimes when he, himself, was a minor. I’m not sure how that works out legally. A crime committed by a minor often falls under different punishment than an adult, and here we have the punishment catching up with him when he’s an adult. It will be an interesting case to follow.
There is also a bit of drama related to the area. As it turns out the Keesee family has members in various positions of authority that required officials to recuse themselves due to conflict of interest. For example, Drenda Keesee was a county commissioner who would decide (among other things) the budget for the police.
More than that though, Drenda Keesee is also connected to the family through the evangelical aspect. Her role is listed as a pastor herself and she runs a show on the Faith Life online TV network. Her show (Drenda On Guard) seems to appeal to conspiracy theorists and the topics seem somewhat extreme:
Sensational topics with shocking text and glaring images looks very off. Topic headlines include:
- “A secret sign of revelation”
- “Did Hitler create Hamas???”
- “This prophet saw the terrorist plots?”
- “Dodge will save America: Here’s how”
- “Why Christians must vote for Trump”
Obviously she’s on on trial, but it’s interesting to know the family behind the man arrested. Ironic someone who believes in spirit filled faith guiding her can’t discern issues with her own family.
Beyond the strange videos of Drenda Keesee, there are weird videos being sold to preach money:
A church selling a program on how to make more money. This is the classic fall of Christianity. Where, exactly, did Jesus resonate with that? How about never. How about he resonated with the opposite of that. Again, this is my nitpicking of a church that seems very strange to me.
Community reaction
The community has voiced concern that someone like this would have a leadership position in a church.
