Several alleged victims, including his own sister, have accused Gary Thomas “Tom” Keesee, the son of Ohio pastors, Gary and Drenda Keesee, of sexually abusing them. Now, thousands have signed a public petition, calling on Ohio law enforcement to investigate Tom Keesee.

Tom Keesee’s parents are pastors of Faith Life Church in New Albany, Ohio, and Tom used to be Faith Life’s chief media officer before resigning in August.

Drenda Keesee is also a Knox County commissioner and friends with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost. And Gary and Drenda Keesee have a financial show, “Fixing the Money Thing,” on embattled Daystar TV and are friends with Daystar TV President Joni Lamb.

Joni Lamb is facing allegations by her son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan and Suzy Lamb, of covering up the sexual abuse of their daughter by a family member.

The petition, which has garnered more than 2,500 signatures, calls for Attorney General Dave Yost to investigate Tom Keesee for sexual abuse.

“This report is to bring justice to the victims of Gary Thomas Keesee for SA and abuse of minors,” the petition states. “His victims include his sister (who posted below) and girls under his influence in the church. These victims deserve justice.” 

Tom’s younger sister, Kirsten McKinney, wrote a message for the petition calling herself a “victim” and saying she had taken steps to report the matter to police.

“Many are aware of allegations involving a family member,” wrote McKinney. “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.”

Tom is also the creator of Faith Life’s musical, “Fire and Ice,” that uses minors as performers, according to Connie McVay, a former contractor at Faith Life and long-time church member. Faith Life also employs, or has recently employed, most of the Keesee’s other five adult children and their spouses, McVay said.

TRR reached out to Tom Keesee for comment, but he did not immediately respond. TRR also sought comment from Gary and Drenda Keesee through their church, but they didn’t respond.

Gary Keesee told his church last Sunday that he doesn’t “endorse” abuse and isn’t aware of anyone “currently on this staff” who has been accused of abuse, according to a clip of Keesee’s sermon posted on Facebook by Faith Life member, Eric Vennon. In the clip, Keesee did not mention whether he knew of any former staff— including his son, Tom—who has been accused of abuse.

Keesee’s sermon Sunday is posted en Youtube but is missing the portion of the sermon where Keesee addresses abuse allegations.  The video shows an edit just before the 31-minute mark, indicating the possibility of a missing section.

Keesee also posted a statement this week En facebook addressed to his family and his church, calling the issue a “deeply, deeply personal matter.” He apologized to his daughter Kirsten for letting her down but denied knowing of any criminal behavior by any of his children. He also said he couldn’t choose between his children.

“Even though everyone makes a mistake in life, I’ve never been presented from any of my children any criminal behavior,” Keesee said. “My intent was never, not to ever cover up anything anytime, but at the same time, not to betray the trust of one child over another.”

Other whistleblowers, such as Connie McVay, are supporting the effort to urge law enforcement to investigate. McVay told El Informe Roys (TRR) she observed Tom’s inappropriate behavior toward a teenage girl in the church and tried to report it to Faith Life. But she said the church mishandled the report and allowed Tom Keesee to continue to work with youth.

“At the end of the day, I only answer to God,” McVay told TRR.

Law enforcement’s response

Attorney General Yost replied to the petition, stating that the Knox County Sheriff’s office couldn’t investigate because as county commissioner, Drenda Keesee votes on the sheriff’s budget. The sheriff has requested Ohio’s Bureau of Investigation to investigate, Yost said.

But Yost called Gary and Drenda Keesee “friends,” who’ve eaten dinner in his home. Given the close relationship, Yost said he couldn’t investigate and instead asked Knox County to find another law enforcement agency to investigate.

“My relationship with them meant that we could not credibly perform the investigation, either, and we informed the Sheriff of that fact,” Yost wrote on the petition. “We suggested that another Sheriff’s office could be invited to do the necessary work, and offered to help identify one who would be willing to do so if necessary.”

Yost sent a similar statement to El Informe Roys (TRR) saying he didn’t want his “personal conflict” to taint the investigation.

“I’ve spent my life fighting for the survivors of sexual abuse, both as a prosecutor and as attorney general,” Yost wrote to TRR.  “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. 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.”

Yost said the victims deserve a neutral investigation.

“An independent third-party must perform this investigation,” he wrote. “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.”

Kirsten McKinney posted En facebook Tuesday that she was “satisfied” with Yost’s response.

“Many high-level officials and key figures are now closely watching this case, and I commend the law enforcement efforts being made to ensure a fair and just process,” McKinney wrote.

TRR left a message for the Knox County sheriff, but he didn’t respond.

Whistleblowers’ concerns

Several former church staff aren’t giving up until a police department decides to investigate. McVay told TRR she first noticed inappropriate behavior from Tom in the summer of 2023.

Due to mold in their house, the McVays stayed with their teenage babysitter’s family for about six weeks. During that time, McVay said the 16-year-old babysitter, who attended Faith Life, told McVay she would text with then 38-year-old Tom Keesee in the middle of the night. Tom had also cast the girl opposite him in as a love interest in a church musical he’d written.

McVay said the babysitter told her that she and Tom Keesee had written each other love songs as the characters in the play but said she couldn’t share the songs with McVay. “That was another red flag,” McVay said. “He’s an adult man. Why is he writing something you can’t share with people?”

McVay added that the girl told her that Tom Keesee once got mad at her over her friendship with another boy. The girl said she and Keesee then met at a fishing dock and talked for six hours in the middle of the night to resolve the matter before Keesee left on a trip.

McVay said she tried to talk with the girls’ parents, but they reportedly excused the behavior as just friendship. So, in December 2023, McVay said she told then-youth pastor Alecia Keesee, who is married to the Keesee’s other son, Tim Keesee.

McVay said Alecia Keesee initially affirmed McVay’s concerns and said she’d take care of it. But a few months later, McVay noticed Tom Keesee was helping with Vacation Bible School. So, in May or June of 2024, McVay told TRR she talked to Alecia about Tom again. This time, Alecia reportedly told McVay that she should think about her husband’s job at the church.

“She said I had my husband’s job to consider,” McVay said.

McVay said that during an executive leadership meeting last October, Drenda Keesee laid hands on McVay’s husband and prophesied death over him.

en un grabación McVay provided to TRR, a woman says, “I heard the word, ‘mortal wound.’ The enemy’s going to try to hit you with a mortal wound. . . . You choose. You choose.”

The next month, McVay said her husband was suddenly fired.

McVay said her husband is under a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the church. The church also originally included Connie McVay’s name and the names of her kids on the NDA. But McVay hired a lawyer who successfully got those additional names removed, freeing her to talk.

The church currently lists Alecia Keesee and her husband, Tim Keesee, as executive pastors. TRR reached out to Alecia through her husband’s Facebook page, where they recently left a joint message supporting victims.

“Words do not describe how broken we are as a family and as a brother for my baby sister Kirsten (shared with permission),” Tim and Alecia Keesee posted yesterday. “All their stories must come out. As we have learned these things and heard the stories of these victims, we have been broken and will do what we can to help. Our silence was not due to lack of concern, care, or denial, but rather protocols that stymied our desire for transparency.”

Nicole Berger, another former Faith Life employee, said she had also noticed inappropriate behavior of Tom Keesee toward a girl in the youth group when Tom was married to his first wife. But she said the girl’s mom excused the behavior.

Berger said Tom later divorced his first wife and married the woman who had been in the youth group and was now an adult.

That prompted Berger to dig further and find a different alleged victim. Berger, whose husband is a police officer, said she helped the second alleged victim report the matter to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office in December. Berger said she then quit her job with Gary Keesee’s company Forward Financial Group over the matter and stopped attending and volunteering with the church.

“I just tried to keep it to myself,” Berger said. “We went to one service and couldn’t do it.”

Rebecca Hopkins es una periodista radicada en Colorado.