Gary Thomas “Tom” Keesee, a son of Gary and Drenda Keesee, founders and senior pastors of Faith Life Church, a family-run, multi-campus megachurch in Ohio, is facing allegations of sexual abuse, including one from his sister, Kirsten McKinney.
In addition to being a son of the Faith Life Church founders, Tom Keesee is also the former chief media officer at the church, according to LinkedIn. He resigned from the position last August.
When asked about the allegations cited in a change.org petition with more than 2,500 signatures calling for Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost to investigate Tom Kessee, a representative at the church told The Christian Post last Thursday that they had no comment.
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However, the church’s attorney, Katie Tabor, acknowledged “serious allegations concerning past conduct involving a member of our church leaders’ family” in a statement to The Columbus Dispatch and expressed a willingness to be transparent and cooperative with authorities.
“We want to express our deepest compassion for those who have come forward and for anyone who has experienced harm. We recognize the courage it takes to speak out. We encourage anyone impacted to seek appropriate support and to report concerns to the proper authorities,” Tabor said. “We ask for prayers for all those affected and for our church family as we navigate this challenging time. We remain steadfast in our mission to serve with faith, love, and compassion.”
In an earlier address to the church, clips of which are available on YouTube, Pastor Gary Keesee stated that Faith Life Church is a “family church” and does not condone abuse.
“I’m not aware of anyone currently on this staff that has been accused of being involved with any type of this activity. Please make sure you know that. Please know that Drenda and I, our pastoral team has not been accused of anything. Our goal is to carry out the work that God has assigned us to do, and in that process, law enforcement will deal with anyone that may be guilty of such activity, and the innocent will be exonerated,” he said.
“If you know of a case of abuse, please contact the authorities, or if you need pastoral care, please feel free to reach our pastoral team. We are the same church that we’ve always been, and we have always been here for you, and we will always be here for you.”
The Ohio Attorney General’s Office told CP that an investigation into the allegations against Tom Keesee was being handled by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, which did not respond to a request for comment.
Licking County Sheriff’s Lt. Gus Moore told The Columbus Dispatch that the case had been transferred to them and they would be investigating.
In addition to her role as co-senior pastor at Faith Life Church, Drenda Keesee also serves as a Knox County Commissioner, a television host and a political commentator on the channel “Drenda on Guard.” She also co-founded Forward Financial Services.
Calls to the Knox County Commissioners’ office went unanswered last Thursday.
Yost’s office explained that despite allegations that his office was intentionally blocking the investigation of Tom Keesee due to his friendship with Drenda Keesee, the truth is that there is a legal conflict of interest.
The Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) serves as Ohio’s crime lab and criminal records keeper and offers investigative services to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, according to the agency’s website.
To conduct an investigation, local law enforcement or prosecutor’s office must request an investigation. Before the BCI can move forward with any investigation, any potential conflicts of interest must be evaluated.
A conflict of interest assessment showed that the BCI had a conflict of interest in the case because of Yost’s friendship with Drenda Keesee. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office was reportedly also seeking a third-party agency to conduct the investigation into Tom Keesee due to a conflict of interest.
“I’ve spent my life fighting for the survivors of sexual abuse, both as a prosecutor and as attorney general. If my office had accepted this investigation, one of two things would have occurred: a charge, or a decision to not charge for a lack of evidence,” Yost said in a statement to CP.
“Either way, the credibility of the investigation would have been called into question — either by my critics who would claim my friendship prevented a thorough investigation, or by defense counsel at trial, who would try to claim that I am overreacting and targeting his client to prove my integrity for political purposes,” he continued.
“The victims in the situation deserve better than that. An independent third party must perform this investigation. By declining to perform an investigation in which I have personal conflict, I am honoring the victims, the process, the public at large and the cause of justice.”
The petition calling on Yost to investigate the claims emerged after McKinney publicly revealed that she was also a victim of her brother, lending support to the voices already calling for him to be investigated.
“Many are aware of allegations involving a family member. I was a victim, and when I learned of ongoing concerns for others’ safety in combination with other’s stories I already knew, I felt a responsibility to step forward. A private police investigation has been working on this case alongside other victims,” McKinney wrote on Facebook.
Among the other alleged victims is Olivia Wooten, who publicly revealed that she’s a survivor in response to McKinney’s disclosure.
“I am a survivor of sexual abuse, and my story was one that was silenced and covered up by the very community that was supposed to protect me. My old fears tried to stop me when deciding to open this case and It’s taken a long time for me to find my voice, but I am no longer afraid to share my truth,” she wrote on Facebook.
Olivia Wooten’s husband, Nathan Wooten, who is a former employee of Faith Life Church, also alleged in a statement on Facebook that Tom Keesee confessed to him more than a decade ago that he had sexually assaulted his wife while she was a minor.
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