Keck Guilty of 29 Counts, Not Guilty on Six Counts in Sex Abuse Trial

After almost two full days of deliberation, Daniel Keck II was found guilty Thursday afternoon on 29 of the 35 sex related counts he was charged with.

As the bailiff read the jury's decision on each of the 35 counts, Keck simply placed his head in his hands.

In all, Keck was found guilty on 29 of the 35 counts, and not guilty on the remaining 6 counts.

That means the 12 person jury agreed he was guilty of four counts of rape, two counts of kidnapping, five counts of gross sexual imposition, two counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, five counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor and 11 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material.

"Most importantly, because the counts involving the molestation of the boys, he was found guilty on those charges. So the boys came in and testified about what they experienced at his house, and the jury found him guilty on all of those charges. And those were, I think, probably the most important," says Kevin Rings, Asst. Prosecutor:

But, Keck was found not guilty on 6 other charges, including one count of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material and five counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor.

"It appears that the not guilty verdicts were on the internet images, which suggest the jury accepted that these boys were accessing the internet, and they were potentially accessing illegal images. It's disappointing to us that they didn't take the next step, which is that if they were accessing these images, then they were engaging in behaviors, that Dan was accused of...We're just very disappointed, obviously," says Rolf Baumgartel, Keck's defense attorney:

Keck faces up to 85 years behind bars on the rape, kidnapping and gross sexual imposition charges alone.

Baumgartel says it is likely Keck will appeal the guilty verdict.

At this point, though, he's been remanded to the Washington County Jail.

His sentencing is set for October 22nd.--------------------Daniel Keck II has been found guilty of 29 counts in his sex abuse trial, and not guilty of six counts.

Sentencing for Keck is set for October 22nd.

WTAP will have more details as we receive them on WTAP at Five, WTAP News at Six and on WTAP.com.

-------------------

Updated 9/10/2009 @12:55 pm

Lauren Keeling giving us results of all 30+ counts in the Daniel Keck trial. Will be posting them here momentarily.

------------------

Update: 9/10/2009 @ 12:10pm

The jury in the Daniel Keck, II, trial has returned a verdict.

WTAP has a reporter in the courtroom who is sending us back information as quickly as possible as the various counts are read. As soon as we get them, we're posting them here.

Judge Ed Lane says it could take 45 minutes to read all the counts.

That process has begun.

We will bring it as soon as it becomes available.

Stay tuned to WTAP.com, WTAP at Five and WTAP News at Six for the very latest on this breaking story.

_________________________________________________________

Prosecutors took issue with a claim from Daniel Keck's defense...that the minors Keck is accused of sexually abusing had sexually questionable backgrounds. The state also denied a defense suggestion that Keck is actually the legal victim.

"Why would a boy, who was looking to set somebody up, to sue somebody, deny that it took place?," Assistant Prosecutor Kevin Rings asked the jurors. "Why would he be saying, 'let me tell you about this...' or make up things to make it sound worse. He didn't do that."

Keck's attorney, Rolf Baumgartel, told the jury that while Keck's actions might have been inappropriate, disturbing, and even disgusting, they weren't illegal.

"Who was that video designed for?," Baumgartel argued. "It certainly wasn't designed for public consumption. It was found in the bottom of the closet. No one had ever seen it. Was there anything about that video that was sexual? Nudity doesn't equal sexual."

A big part of the defense strategy is to question the credibility of Keck's alleged young victims...even to suggest they plotted to have him prosecuted. But the state says that, when initially questioned by police, they didn't want to talk about Keck.

"If you had to pick, would you rather be a boy who came up and said, ' nothing happened to me, I don't know what you're talking about'," Rings said. "Or the boy who had to disclose those disgusting details, in a public setting, in front of strangers and family, and then be called a liar for having done it."

Baumgartel told the jury the things Keck had at his home...things like childrens' toys and video games...were things they probably had in their own homes. in other words, he said, Keck's homes were not Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch.

Keck is charged with a total of 35 counts.

Aside from prison time...Keck could face forfeiture of his Marietta home and other property if he is convicted.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.