A former Brandon Township resident accused of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl ended his own life in an Oakland County Jail cell on Monday.
William Arthur Keely, 65, was found dead in his solitary cell at about 5:25 a.m., April 27. An autopsy concluded his death was caused by suicide, a result of him using a small piece of metal to slit his wrists. He had removed the piece from a soft cast he was wearing for a tendon injury. A suicide note found in the cell did not have an apology to the victim, nor was there an admission of guilt.
‘It’s a tragic situation, but let’s not forget about the victim,? said Undersheriff Michael McCabe. ‘The fam-ily is having a rough time, but we have spoken to them. The victim won’t have to go through a trial, but she is scarred for the rest of her life. Does this make it heal? Absolutely not. It’s a stressor for her.?
According to police reports, William Keely’s wife, Margaret Sullivan Keely, befriended the victim at Oxford High School about three years ago, when the girl was a 14-year-old freshman and Keely was a special education teacher.
Margaret Keely invited the victim, who was not a student of hers, to her home on Hummer Lake Road to do odd jobs around the house as a laborer and introduced her to William Keely, who had been convicted of four counts of criminal sexual conduct, second degree, in 2002 after sexually assaulting a 14-year-old foster child.
The Oxford victim was at the Keely home on weekends during the next two years and then last April, William Keely allegedly requested she test sex toys that he provided under the false ruse that she would be paid by a company that made the devices.
On June 26, William Keely invited the girl to come over and watch a movie, during which he grabbed the victim’s breast and groin area and told her, ‘your body wants it.? She fled the home and William Keely was arrested June 30 and subsequently charged with three counts of child sexual abuse activity, four counts of a felon in possession of a firearm, four counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, one count of criminal sexual conduct fourth degree and one count of providing pornography to a minor.
Keely had been in jail since his arrest, unable to post a $6.5 million bond, but even if he had been able to, the Federal Bureau of Investigation had what McCabe called a ‘hold? on him, meaning Keely would have been turned over to the FBI, who were investigating him on additional child pornography charges.
According to a criminal complaint filed Feb. 11 in the United States District Court in Detroit, the six computers seized from Keely’s home last summer by the sheriff’s department contained ?1,417 pictures of possible victims of child pornography.?
‘Of these pictures, 175 depicted possible sexual exploitation of children and five depicted the possible sexual exploitation of children involving torture,? stated FBI Special Agent Dean Kinsman in a four-page affidavit. ‘Also, stored were two videos of child sexual exploitation.?
‘Several? of the images reviewed by Kinsman depicted nude children, between the ages of 7 and 14, exposed in a ‘lascivious manner,? according to the affidavit.
Many of the images were labeled with the names of the pornographic websites from which they originated.
In addition to child pornography charges, Keely was also facing the prospect of federal charges related to him being a convicted felon in possession of firearms.
According to the affidavit, approximately 17 firearms were seized from Keely’s home by sheriff’s personnel and during the execution of the search warrant he made statements to law enforcement indicating the weapons belonged to him.
Margaret Keely has been charged with failure to report child abuse as a mandated reporter, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail. A jury trial is set for 8:30 a.m., June 18 in 52-2 District Court.
Oxford Leader Editor C.J. Carnacchio contributed to this report.