Margaret Sullivan Keely, the Brandon Township resident and former Oxford High School teacher who introduced one of her students to her husband, a convicted sex offender later jailed on charges of sexually assaulting the girl, will not face any criminal charges.
Oakland County Prosecutor Jessica Cooper confirmed Wednesday that the 93-day misdemeanor charge of failure to report child abuse, which Keely was arraigned on last July, has been dropped.
Cooper cited statute MCL 722.622, section 2, which states in part, ?’Child abuse? means harm or threatened harm to a child’s health or welfare that occurs through nonaccidental physical or mental injury, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, or maltreatment, by a parent, a le gal guardian, or any other person responsible for the child’s health, or welfare or by a teacher, a teacher’s aide, or a member of the clergy.?
‘Mrs. Keely was none of those things,? said Cooper. ‘She had no legal guardianship or responsibility and we didn’t feel that legally we could go forward with the misdemeanor. She wasn’t the person who did this to the child, it was her husband. The statute she was charged under, that my predecessor charged her under, the facts don’t support that statute. Technically, we could not make out the case.?
‘What ever happened to justice?? asked the victim, now 17. ‘A person who commits a crime or a moral wrongdoing needs to face the consequences. Thanks a lot, prosecuting attorney, why didn’t you step up and do your entire job? I was brave enough…Aren’t you??
It was nearly a year ago, on July 3, that Margaret Keely, 53, was arraigned on the failure to report child abuse as a mandated reporter (teacher) during former Prosecutor David Gorcyca’s tenure. On the same day, her husband, William Arthur Keely, 64, was arraigned on multiple charges, including three counts of child sexual abuse activity, a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison; 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.
William Keely committed suicide April 27 in his solitary cell at the Oakland County Jail while awaiting trial in circuit court.
Cooper denied that William Keely’s suicide factored into the decision to drop the charge against his wife.
According to police reports, Margaret Keely, a former OHS special education teacher, befriended the victim at the school three years ago, when the girl was a 14-year-old freshman. She then invited the victim, who was not a student of hers, over to the Keely home on Hummer Lake Road to do odd jobs around the house as a laborer.
Margaret Keely introduced the victim to her husband, 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 over the course of two years.
On June 26 of last year, William Keely invited the girl to come over and watch a movie. During the movie, Keely allegedly grabbed the victim’s private areas and told her, ‘your body wants it.?
The girl fled the home and the assault was reported to police the following day.
‘When this happened to my daughter, Sheriff (Michael) Bouchard stood up on camera and said the other case (involving their foster child) was mishandled and this case would be prosecuted to the fullest,? said the victim’s mother, who asked that her name not be used. ‘She knew he was a sex offender and took minor children back to her house. She knew legally she was putting children in harm’s way. Sheriff Bouchard specifically said we screwed up the first time and they wouldn’t let this happen again and it is happening again and it’s an injustice and it is happening to my daughter.?
Undersheriff Michael McCabe called Margaret Keely’s actions ‘despicable and disgusting.?
‘We commend the officers for what they did in this investigation,? he said. ‘Sometimes there are holes in the laws that need to be patched and maybe it can be addressed legislatively. I have no problem with the prosecutor’s decision, based on the law. We will look at the statutes and go to legislators and ask for a fix.?
However, that fix may be difficult to come by. ‘I think these were very unique circumstances and whether they will write a new law for unique circumstances’whether we can write statutes for all unique circumstances that occur’I’m not sure they’ll ever be able to do that because we’re asking them to do the impossible,? Cooper said.
The Oxford School Board voted to proceed on tenure charges against Keely Sept. 22. The former 29-year employee of the district appealed, but later withdrew her challenge and on Jan. 23, State Tenure Commission Judge James Ward issued an order of dismissal of Keely’s appeal of tenure charges with prejudice, meaning she can’t refile later.