Update from Andover's Head of School Regarding Dr. Richard Keller
SEPTEMBER 14, 2012
As always, our highest priority is the safety of our students. We offer many layers of support to ensure their well being while in our care. We have no reason to believe that any of our students were involved in, or affected by, Dr. Keller’s alleged criminal behavior.These are the facts surrounding Dr. Keller’s departure from Phillips Academy. Dr. Keller was employed for 19 years as the school’s physician on a year-to-year contract. In April, 2011, Phillips Academy informed Dr. Keller that his annual contract would not be renewed. Dr. Keller resigned his appointment and left the school that same month.
The reasons for the school’s decision not to renew his appointment involved professional misconduct unrelated to the charges Dr. Keller faces from the US Attorney’s office. The facts that led up to the school’s decision not to renew Dr. Keller’s contract were several; no single incident led to this decision. The salient facts include the following. In 1999, Dr. Keller was reprimanded for using an academy computer to access pornography involving adult subjects. In 2002, Dr. Keller was reprimanded for showing an inappropriate cartoon to students. Dr. Keller was also cited for poor management and poor judgment, which led the school to place him on administrative probation in 2009. In 2010, Dr. Keller sent an inappropriate voice-mail message to a colleague at the school. Dr. Keller subsequently claimed that the school had discriminated against him. The school investigated Dr. Keller’s claim and determined it to be groundless. Upon conclusion of that investigation, the school informed Dr. Keller that his contract would not be renewed for violating his administrative probation.
We will continue to assist the US Attorney’s office in all aspects of this investigation, while responding to the needs of our community in the days ahead. We encourage anyone with any information as it pertains to these charges to contact the US Attorney’s office at 617-748-3274.
John Palfrey
Head of School
Phillips Academy Statement Regarding Arrest of Former Faculty Member
SEPTEMBER 13, 2012
This morning, the United States Attorney’s Office informed Phillips Academy that a former faculty member, Richard J. Keller, has been arrested and charged, and will be later arraigned, for receipt of child pornography. The individual is not a current employee of the school.
The safety and well-being of our students is our top priority. We are fully assisting the U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure that investigators have the information they need in order to perform their duties as it relates to this case.
To this end, we are seeking all available information as it pertains to this matter, and will be regularly briefing the Andover community as we learn more in the hours and days to come.
We have no further information at this time as it relates to these charges. If you have information related to this matter, please contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office at 617-748-3274.