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Subscribe to RSSA prominent Boston physician, who was the medical director of the famed prep school Phillips Academy for nearly two decades, was arrested on Thursday and charged with receiving child pornography.
A search of Richard Keller's home turned up more than 500 high-gloss prints of child pornography and between 60 and 100 DVDs full of pornography, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston said in a statement.
A criminal complaint filed Thursday described the content of some of the DVDs, including one titled “Boy Fights XX: Late Night Party (2009)," in which young boys displayed their genitals.
Federal investigators, including the United States Postal Inspection Service, started investigating a movie production company that sold DVDs and streamed movies online. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s Cyber TipLine had received more than 20 complaints about the company’s sale of child pornography, according to the criminal complaint.
Most of the movies featured young boys, the complaint said, although it did not name the company.
Read the criminal complaint (.pdf)
Keller, 56, was in the customer database, which included two addresses where DVDs had been mailed, including the Isham Student Health Center at Phillips Academy. Keller had placed 19 orders, including more than 50 movie titles totaling $2,695.
Keller was medical director of Phillips for 19 years, ending in 2011. A prestigious boarding school that dates to the 1780s, it counts both former presidents Bush among its graduates.
The prominent people who attended the school during Keller's time there include Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes, actress Olivia Wilde and King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan. There was no suggestion in the criminal complaint that Keller had abused any students while at the school.
Phillips Academy, in a brief statement on its website, said it was fully assisting prosecutors and that it planned to brief the community in coming days.
More recently Keller worked as a pediatric endocrinologist at Boston Children's Hospital. The hospital said it put Keller on administrative leave as soon as it learned of the complaint.
"No complaints or concerns have been expressed by any patients or family members about the care Dr. Keller provided while he was at Children's," the hospital said in a statement.
A check of Keller's record with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine shows no criminal convictions, hospital or board discipline or malpractice claim payments in the last decade. If convicted, Keller could face between five and 20 years in prison.
NBC's Isolde Raftery contributed to this report.
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Well he's a criminal now and looks like he has been for a while!
He's definitely a criminal and I would never argue that.
But aren't the bigger criminals the people who produce and mail this stuff out? The article seemed lean on facts and there are some questions I feel need answers.
Was this doctor the only person who was arrested?
Were other people who bought child porn from this company arrested?
Has anyone from the company producing the child porn been arrested? We know they're under investigation and we know a "tip line" has received complaints. Is it prudent to arrest 1 consumer over the producers? Doesn't arresting that consumer give a HUGE advantage to the producers of this material? They will just pack up and RUN, now that they know the heat is on.
As a father, I'm down with arresting everyone involved. As a citizen, I question why only a prominent doctor has been arrested and not EVERYONE associated with the production, sale, and distribution of this material. Why isn't it being reported that other deviants who purchased this material aren't being arrested. It makes me feel as though 1 consumer has been singled out when there are SO MANY MORE PEOPLE who need to be arrested.
Wow, just goes to show you never know.
I don't know what it is that makes some people who work with kids turn into sexual perverts, when others stay sane. Other than self-restraint, does effective therapy of any kind for sexual attraction to children exist? It can also be said the DVDs he ordered were one form of control for him, like adult porn may be for the rest of us, but could he have done better (than pass on the victimization)?
Are all white men secretly Pedophile closet gays???? It sure seems that way.
No Starfox7000 I am a white male and quite sure I am not.
No, they're not. But, this goes to show that ANYBODY could be a freak and why one cannot trust ANYONE with their children - even teachers and doctors. Sad, but true. This is what the world has come to and why I will not be sending my child to school for their education to be supervised by a bunch of strangers that I have had little to no contact with prior. And if that seems paranoid...please...reread this article and you get to understanding why. There is NO room for error in preserving the spirit and soul of a child.
The pictures may only be pictures. Perhaps video. Perhaps he DID nothing wrong, but those children in those photos and videos were exploited so that people like HIM could see. So, he's just as guilty - even if there is no formal charge of child sexual abuse against him.
Most pedophiles I've ever had the displeasure of meeting weren't gay. In fact, I've never known of a gay pedophile. That sounds like pure unadulterated homophobia and you're entitled to it, but don't confuse the issue. This is not an issue about gender preference. It's an issue about child endangerment and images created by exploiting kids for the pleasure of monsters. Women have been known to exploit children for this manner too. It's not just those rotten few monster men. There are monster women too.
Maybe, but "Boy Fights XX: Late Night Party (2009)," wasn't Nearly as good as "Boy Fights XX: Late Night Party 2008".
No viewing or possesing child porn. K.
The American Psychiatric Association wants to decriminalize pedophilia. Jerry Sandusky is thrilled. This is Satanic and demonic. See
The American Psychiatric Society wants to decriminalize pedophilia. This is Satanic and demonic. See:
The American Psychiatric Society is full of crazy people if they want to decriminalize Pedophilia. Another pile of 1%er doctors, that are grossly overpaid. And don't even know that an hour is 60 minutes long.
at least we know he "enjoyed" his time at work with the children.
All pedophiles should be executed upon discovery.It is really that simple.
Not only are you insane, but also violent, dumb, and ineffective. Contrast what you said with understanding the roots of pedophilia and curbing it psychologically or chemically. Where is the treatment protocol they deserve? People like you have taken it away.
There is no treatment for pedophilia. When they are released back into society, they invariably go back to old habits. You simply can't ask a pedophile to cease feeling sexually aroused by children any more than you can ask a heterosexual to stop feeling biologically compelled towards an attraction to the opposite sex.
Sexual predators and sociopaths cannot be rehabilitated. The most we can do is try to prevent the damage they do to society by keeping them isolated from society, assuming we're unwilling to take stronger measures.
They cannot be rehabilitated BY YOU because the likes of you have locked them up and failed to expend proper research and effort to understand what's really wrong with them and how to fix it. You really have no idea what 21st century medicine is capable of. Locking them up is a waste of tax money and of their life, when they can simply be chemically subdued into feeling flat, if nothing else. It goes to show how little or nothing you know about neurology.
Tom-631064, that's not in line with what I suggested at all. Most people simply don't understand crime in a sophisticated or enlightened manner - it is essentially the result of abnormal psychiatric states of mind, and it is not beyond us to study, treat, and prevent it. Prison is relatively inhumane and is basically vengeance.
AB, I am curious of your back ground, are you in the psychology field? I realize there are drugs and even operations where they surgically remove parts of the brain where it renders the offender "flat" as you say. You are also right that prison is inhumane and is vengeance, mostly for the victims since they are not allowed to do it themselves. But it keeps the offenders off of the street to commit the crimes again. It is also there to act as a deterrent, I know I don't want to go to a place that is inhumane, but some people just cant seem to help themselves. Tom has a novel idea, but unfortunately it puts people in your neighborhood at risk, at one point I would say let them live with you and your family but that would put them at risk if you have any. Prison as inhumane as it seems also helps keep people like me out of jail, you see I have a young daughter and if someone that you feel is redeemable for some reason was to "hurt" her, I would kill them, no questions asked. So by letting these offenders go to jail, it keeps people like me (law abiding and for the most part peaceful) out of jail. I think what you fail to do since you are so upset at the offenders rights is look what it does to the lives of the victims. Here is where I would normally want to say a lot of very bad things to you but I won't, but do yourself a favor and research a little more about the lives of the victims after the attacks and maybe then you will stop feeling so sorry for the offenders. One last thing, just in the slight chance you are having any urges yourself, please seek medical help.
Regular-Guy, I am not sure you understand what I was getting at. We both share the same goals of preventing future crime. It's just that our approaches are different. Yours is based on deterrence and mine is based on neural prediction and correction. Since you asked, I am professionally in the computing field - not psychology, but I know enough psychiatry to know what's possible. For the record, I am completely opposed not just to child porn, but to any violence against children, including by their parents.
Give me full control of a city's water supply and I will reduce violent crime there down to the 5th percentile.
AB, I am in telecommunications field and from your follow up, a lot more high strung than you, kudos on being level headed. In fact, I think you might know more than you think about psychiatry because now I am at a loss for words.
Interested in what you would do with the water supply, not in a concerned citizen way either.
Children's Hospital in Boston has a long, long line of pedophile doctors who have worked there.
1) Dr. William Ayres, who worked at Children's from 1959-1963 was arrested in California in 2007 for molesting young boys sent to him for therapy.
2) Dr. Donald Lee Rife worked at Children's in the 1960s, was busted in Vermont, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Florida for molesting boys.
3) Well known pediatrician Dr. Mel Levine was sued by many boys who had been molested by him at Children's. Levine committed suicide over a year ago.
4) Dr. Daniel Carleton Gajdusek who won a Nobel Prize, worked at Children's. He went to prison for molesting boys from Indonesia he'd brought back to Massachusetts to be informally "adopted."
Conspiracy??? Do you suppose all these 1%er Doctors knew each other?
Treatment should be DEATH BY HANGING
I say this with absolutely no political meaning or argument, but to me, it's oddly weird, almost scary and nothing but coincidence, but it's just weird how the Bush name comes up around pedophile stories...Franklin Cover-up, Jerry Sandusky's organization was one of the Thousand Points of Light, they both went to this school.
Go ahead, blast away, as I said, this has no political meaning to me and nothing but coincidence.
And the way Old George use to hug them Saudi Sheikhs. It gave me the creeps. Not that there is anything wrong with what he did. I'm just saying, it gave me the creeps.
Does watching a murder film make you a murderer?
Or watching a mob film make you an mobster?
Or a gay film make you gay?
or a rape film make you an rapist?
Or an anti muslim film make you anti muslim or murder americans and burn flags?
Lots of folks click on bestiality porn , and most folks that do are just curious to see what the heck it is......
Does it mean they do sheep, horses and dogs?
The same thing happens when you pass a car wreck- you want to look at it and see what happen(s)
Shock jocks or shock clicks, its human nature to be curious.
I'm sure there are plenty of pedo porn watchers that are threats to society and it would be best if they were put in jail for watching or just clicking on something on internet/dvds/web sites because they are truly - really threats to kids.
I also think the opposite may be true as well and folks that would not do harm to anyone may find themselves in massive trouble even though they do not deserve it; for making some bad internet porn surfing clicks.
This act of porn watching is not something anyone can defend without looking bad themselves which keeps anyone who thinks the thought police may be going too far from even raising the question.
because the subject matter is not defendable.
If someone only watches and never acts out or hurts anyone they sure as hell pay a huge price for it ; the penalty's are just like if he seduced and raped kids and took videos and sold them- posted them on the internet, when he may have just watched some porn films that he may have even thought were legal?
I am not talking about this guy in this story in particular.
I do NOT condone child porn !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I DO think that going after child porn producers, web sites, distributors, etc is top priority!!!!!!!!!!!
I also think the potential for destroying innocent people by targeting the consumer / internet surfers (NOT INTERNET POSTERS - child porn distributors- they should BE IN JAIL) is huge;
many think all porn should be illegal.
Who decides what is child porn, do porn stars show ids on porn videos to prove they are of legal age?
I really dont know what the legal age is? Do you? 18 I guess? How do you tell?
In some foreign countries kids can have sex legally, I think 14 is the legal age in germany?
I'm just throwing out some thoughts that nobody ever discusses because TRUE child porn is SOOOOOOOOOOO DISGUSTING that no one dares to even broach the obvious other sides of the story.
There's a huge difference between a perfectly LEGAL gay film and a strictly ILLEGAL film of child pornography. Lets not mix apples with oranges. Watching a "mob" film most certainly does not make you a mobster but to watch child pornography shows sign of a pathetic FREAK. I'm not sure about you but I wouldn't want any of my children being treated by some doctor that gets PLEASURE from young boys' genitalia.
Also, clearly you are unaware that they have been unable to track the "producers, distributors, web sites, etc." and the only way to get to the source is by routing it from the SICKOS that watch it or FUND it. Agreed?
Lastly, the legal age is 18 as a matter of fact. Yes, in Europe, many countries consider the legal age as 14+....but we are in America, not Germany. Boy Fights XX does not particularly sound like grown men to me? Does it? Didn't think so... How about you put some thought into your post before writing reckless bull as a comment.
Frankly, I think it's time to start requiring routine background checks on anyone who works in a profession that has access to other people's genitals in a non-sexual way, like a physician, especially if his/her patients are kids. I would even extend this to professions with mere visual access - as in anyone involved in sports or locker rooms, at least for people dealing with kids. Sexual desire has no place in a professional environment, and I don't think its unfair to disqualify people from certain kinds of work if they have ever shown any kind of sexual desire toward anything that work exposes them to. ESPECIALLY IF IT INVOLVES KIDS - I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!!!I'm sick of perverts hiding behind their professions to inappropriately get their jollies. It's downright creepy, and in the case of children, it's downright wrong and especially important that such people be removed in any way necessary from any kind of contact that promotes the inappropriate behavior.
Probably a good idea in general. But a background check on Dr. Richard Keller, according to the report, would have shown nothing. There were no apparent problems in his past, that would have raised a red flag.
It is probably time to start thinking about making child porn legal again just like it was before:
This is an attempt to bring the topic to a serious discussion, and explain why possession of child pornography need to be re-legalized in the next ten years, and why you need to fight for it to happen.
why would you want to legalize child pornography????
Child pornography has never been legal in the United states. Why would any sane person want to make child porn legal?
I posted a link in my original post but I see now that they are erased.
Search for: "Three Reasons Possession Of Child Porn Must Be Re-Legalized In The Coming Decade" and you will find the article in the blog of the Swedish Pirate Party founder.
A 1%er Dr. in Boston crashes and burns, for his bad judgement. Now he can register as a sex offender. When do they pull his medical license?
I'm attracted to boys 12 and younger and there's some things I would like to say about myself.
I choose to remain against sex with boys. And it's not because it's illegal. It's because having that involved in a relationship with a boy has too many risks. There is no telling how it will end up affecting the child psychologically and it is not worth the risks of that. Also, as the boy is growing up, he could hear many negative things about that type of relationship which could cause him to feel bad and guilty about it. I could never put any of the risks I just mentioned on a boy like that. That is not what boylove is about to me. To me, it's about supporting, nurturing, caring, and respecting a boy like their own parents would and should do. It's about that wonderful, magical feeling I get from the loving affection that a boy can give. NOTHING sexual at all. Just seeing a boy being a boy, pretending, imagining, carefree and innocent. Being there for him when he's sad and feeling down. Taking a boy who's being horribly abused by his parents and giving him a hug, just to take all that pain and suffering away from him. Yes, I do have a sexual attraction to boys, but for the reasons explained above, I could NEVER EVER act on it. That is what my fantasies in my head are for. I love boys and all children way too much to even risk how that could affect them mentally.
I feel that child porn is some of the most horrible, vile, nasty @!$%#ing @!$%# that ever existed. It shows children being forced, abused, and raped and the children involved in that are put through a living hell. I just don't understand how someone can say they love boys and then get off on that stuff. I just hate it so very much and I cry every day thinking of all the poor, innocent little angels that have to be involved in that garbage. Also, if people completely stopped buying and downloading it, there would be no reason to make it in the first place.
How'd you post from the prison Jerry?
I would also like to add that the reason I came on here to say that was to show the rest of society that not all pedophiles are sick perverts who just want sex with kids and look at child porn. It's because all you EVER hear in the media is about pedos like that, it makes it sound like all of us are like that which is not true because I'm nothing like that.
This is not a national problem, nor is it just a certain race of men or women. This has surpassed being a 'growing concern' it is a global destabilization! An intrinsic fault has occurred in society when adults seek sexual fulfillment from children.
It actually is a disease of conscience at the highest level. Killing or maiming these people isn't the answer. They must be dissected from society and segregated to an adult population where they can monitored and be allowed to continue in their prospective fields while having absolutely no contact with children or literature containing them!
I've loved one boys genitals all of my life. Mine. If only it were longer, I wouldnt need a woman.
So...he's going to prison because he bought some videos...perhaps his crime was inducing crime.