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Charges advance for man accused of having sex with teenager

Wyoming Tribune-Eagle - 5/27/2018

May 27--CHEYENNE -- Charges advanced Wednesday for a local man accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 29.

Thomas Keetley, 31, faces four counts of first-degree sexual assault of a minor while in a position of authority and a single count of child abuse causing physical injury.

Each of the sexual abuse charges carries a maximum of 50 years in prison, and the child abuse charge carries a maximum of 10.

Court documents allege that Keetley formed a relationship with one of his 15-year-old employees in 2015 when he ran Sit Means Sit, a dog training business.

Authorities accuse him of having sexual intercourse with the girl a number of times before and after she turned 16 -- the age when a person is legally able to consent to sex. However, since Keetley was the girl's boss, it could negate her age at the time because prosecutors allege that Keetley was in a "position of authority."

Initial charging documents filed with the court outline the events that give law enforcement enough probable cause to believe that Keetley committed the crimes he is accused of. It is preliminary information that has not yet come under scrutiny from the defense.

According to those documents:

On July 14, 2016, a local teenager was reported as a runaway to the Cheyenne Police Department. Family members had concerns that the girl was in a relationship with 29-year-old Keetley.

The girl's mother had Facebook messages between Keetley and the girl that "suggested a relationship was taking place."

On July 26, 2016, the girl was detained and transferred back to Cheyenne in November.

In an initial interview with police upon her return, the girl said Keetley was her fiancé. She said he picked her up July 13, 2016, and they drove to Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Virginia and Pennsylvania before going back to her father's house in Kansas.

The girl said she started a sexual relationship with Keetley after her 16th birthday.

But in December 2017, the girl met with police again and told them that she did actually have sex with Keetley before her 16th birthday.

At one point, the relationship became abusive, the girl told investigators.

She said Keetley found the girl at Sit Means Sit, took her in a room, locked the door, pushed her against a wall and held her down. She said he forced her to have sex and "kept trying to choke (her)."

The girl relayed a number of other sexual encounters, some of which the girl said happened at the Springhill Suites on Fox Farm Road.

Hotel records showed that Keetley stayed at the hotel on three separate dates in 2015. On two of those dates, the hotel documented that he had another person with him.

In an interview with police in February 2017, Keetley initially told authorities that he did have sex with the girl, but never in Cheyenne. He later said that he had sex with the girl after she turned 16 at his house in town.

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