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Children's Hospital Pediatric Endocrinologist Charged With Collecting Child Porn

This just in from U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz's Office:

A pediatric endocrinologist was charged today in federal court with receipt of child pornography.

Richard Keller, MD, 56, of Andover, was arrested and charged today with receipt of child pornography. It is alleged that Dr. Keller knowingly received films depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct. According to court documents Dr. Keller purchased and ordered over 50 DVDs of child pornography online.

At this time, more than 500 photographs and between 60 - 100 DVDs have been recovered during an ongoing search of Dr. Keller’s home today. Dr. Keller is a pediatric endocrinologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and a pediatrics instructor at Harvard Medical School. Before stepping down in 2011, Keller was the Medical Director at Phillips Academy for 19 years.

If convicted, Keller faces a mandatory minimum of five years and up to 20 years in prison, to be followed by up to lifetime supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Robert Bethel, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and Chief Brian J. Pattullo of the Andover Police Department made the announcement today. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael I. Yoon of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.

Members of the public who have questions, concerns or information regarding this case should call 617-748-3274, and messages will be promptly returned.

The case is brought as part of Project Safe Childhood. In February 2006, the Department of Justice created Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative designed to protect children from exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov/.

Here's the statement from Children's:

Providing safe and appropriate care in a safe and protective environment is the absolute paramount priority for Boston Children's Hospital. When the hospital learned of the allegations against Dr. Richard Keller earlier today, he was immediately put on administrative leave pending results of the investigation by the US Attorney's Office. We will cooperate fully with the US Attorney's Office and all other involved regulatory and legal authorities.

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.

Here's the full complaint.

(hansol/flickr)
(hansol/flickr)

This program aired on September 13, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Rachel Zimmerman

Rachel Zimmerman Reporter
Rachel Zimmerman previously reported on health and the intersection of health and business for WBUR. She is working on a memoir about rebuilding her family after her husband’s suicide. 

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