BishopAccountability.org
	Former Priest Charged with Molesting Teen-Ager By Will Pinkston and Anne Paine The Tennessean January 31, 1999 A Metro property appraiser and former Catholic priest was arrested by police yesterday after being charged with molesting a teen-age boy. Edward Joseph McKeown, 54, 644 Ransom Village Way, turned himself in to Metro police at about 5 p.m. He was charged with four counts of rape and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. McKeown was being held without bond until a preliminary hearing Feb. 4. Police spokesman Don Aaron said more charges against McKeown may come early this week. "We are investigating the distinct possibility of other victims over a long period of time," Aaron said. Richard McGee, McKeown's attorney, said last night he would have no comment until he had more information on the case. Arrest warrants indicate McKeown admitted to oral sex with the boy twice at his Antioch home in 1995 and fondling the boy once at another location. The boy also said he had sexual contact with McKeown. The boy was 12 at the time of the earliest alleged contact, police said, and would now be about 15. The name of the boy has been withheld because The Tennessean does not name victims of rape. McKeown left the priesthood in 1989, a Nashville Catholic diocese officials said yesterday. He served as pastor in several churches and has taught at Father Ryan High School. "He left active ministry and all forms of priestly ministry about 10 years ago, in February 1989," Perkin said. McKeown's friends and neighbors in the Ransom Village subdivision were shocked at the allegations. "Ed McKeown is one of the best men I've ever know," said Richard Bowers, president of the Ransom Village Homeowners Association. "It's very hard to believe what's going on." Bowers' wife, Joan, said McKeown ate dinner with them Friday night and didn't mention that he might be in trouble with police, who had visited his home earlier in the week. McKeown was a Catholic priest for around 15-17 years. Reverend David Perkin, administrative assistant to the bishop in the Catholic Diocese of Nashville, said last night he could not give the reason for McKeown's departure because of privacy rights. McKeown worked for a while in the Juvenile Court Clerk's office in the early 1990s, before taking a job in the Metro Property Assessor's office. JoAnn North, Metro Property Assessor, called McKeown an excellent employee, and said the charges were surprising. McKeown was working for the office when she arrived there in 1992, she said. As a property assessor, his job was touring properties to set a value for taxing purposes. "He was very jovial and everyone loved him," North said last night. "He's one of the more dependable employees always on time, very conscientious with his work." North said she did not know details but became aware of a problem Friday. "He called and said he was in trouble and needed some help. My husband helped find him a lawyer. "It's a pretty devastating time." She said McKeown also had a part-time job doing paperwork for a private company overseeing Metro's child support collections. Before he became a property assessor, McKeown worked in the Juvenile Court Clerk's office for 18 months or so around the early 1990s, according to an official there. He filed and did paperwork in the clerk's office and did not work in the court with the youths, said Tim Adgent with the Davidson County Juvenile Courts. McKeown was ordained for the Catholic priesthood in the Catholic Diocese of Nashville in the early 1970s, Perkin said. "He left active ministry and all forms of priestly ministry about 10 years ago, in February 1989," Perkin said. During his years in the priesthood, McKeown's assignments included teaching at Father Ryan where he was once a student. He also served as pastor of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Harriman, Tenn., and ministered in Lenoir City and Deer Lodge. All three are in East Tennessee. Perkin, who would see him during the years McKeown was in East Tennessee, described him as "outgoing," and a "jovial spirit." "He was very much active and participatory in all respects regarding activities with his fellow priests and the whole Catholic community," Perkin said. Kelly Burch, another neighbor of McKeown's, described him as "very political." "Even when I didn't know elections were going on, he'd have a sign in his yard," Burch said.
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