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	Court Allowed Ex-Priest to Keep Boy Despite Pedophilia Report By Laura Frank The Tennessean July 25, 1999 Davidson County Juvenile Court officials were told former Roman Catholic priest Edward J. McKeown was a child molester shortly after he went to work for the Juvenile Court clerk. But McKeown kept his job and last year the court gave him custody of a child he was later convicted of raping. "I can't believe no one told us," said the raped child's mother, who had no idea McKeown was a child molester when she agreed to joint custody. "I'm numb." The court referee who awarded custody, Randy LaFevor, acknowledges that he knew of reports about McKeown's past while the child was in the ex-priest's custody, but took no action. Referees are appointed by judges to act on their behalf in some juvenile matters. While other court officials said they have been aware of McKeown's past for years, LaFevor said he isn't sure whether he heard the reports before or after he made the custody decision. He said that in any event he was under no obligation to check the reports further. Court officials who heard the allegations in 1990 include former Juvenile Court Judge Andy Shookhoff and his top two aides, Billy Fields and Sharon Carter. Shookhoff also said he told Juvenile Court Clerk Kenny Norman, who employed McKeown. Norman could not be reached for comment, but indicated previously he did not know of McKeown's past sexual molestations. Shookhoff said he could not recall whether he knew McKeown had custody of the child. "I can't believe all these people didn't do something to stop this," the child's mother said. The Tennessean does not name rape victims without their permission and is not naming the mother to protect the identity of her son. McKeown, 55, is serving 25 years without parole in state prison on multiple counts of rape. He told police he had molested 21 boys over 27 years. He was forced to leave the priesthood in 1989 after admitting pedophilia. McKeown went to work for the Juvenile Court clerk in February 1990. A church worker who knew of McKeown's child sex abuse grew alarmed and informed a Juvenile Court probation officer, Tom Cayce. Cayce, in turn, informed Shookhoff and other top court officials. Despite Cayce's warnings, none of the court officials who were alerted did anything to stop McKeown from having temporary custody of the child. "All someone would have had to do is send us an anonymous note," the mother said. The child's mother had agreed to the temporary custody, thinking more time with the former priest would be good for the child, who had gotten in trouble with the law. McKeown had befriended the child, who lived nearby, and the boy's mother thought he was a trusted figure. Unknown to her, McKeown had begun sexually abusing the boy even before custody was given. Some of the officials involved now say their recollections are vague and sometimes conflicting, but they stand by their actions. "I heard rumors," said LaFevor, now an administrative law judge for the Tennessee secretary of state. "It's not something that courts make decisions on." LaFevor said he never asked McKeown or anyone else in the Juvenile Court who might have known about the allegations, nor did he try to determine whether McKeown had been accused of child sex abuse before he gave McKeown custody of the child. "I wasn't told any factors to support it, so there was no reason for me to pursue whether it was true," he said. The child's mother sharply disagrees. "It was the court's responsibility if there were rumors to have them investigated before turning over the care of a child to someone who might be a pedophile and in this case was a pedophile," she said. "No matter when he found out, he had a responsibility to the law and to the child he put in that care to have it investigated." Norman was another of the officials who was warned that McKeown had been forced to leave the priesthood because of pedophilia, Shookhoff said. Norman said earlier this year that he did not know of McKeown's past. Norman, like other court clerks, is independently elected and hires his own staff. Shookhoff said he told Norman about McKeown's past in 1990, after Cayce told him. The child's mother said Norman also knew about the custody agreement and more. McKeown was a frequent visitor to Norman's farm and several times brought boys with him, the mother said. "He knew my child was staying with Ed," the mother said. "He knew when Ed got temporary joint custody. He knew all the time when my child helped with his campaign." Norman, who was re-elected Juvenile Court Clerk last year, did not return repeated calls for comment made to his office and his home this week. In earlier interviews with The Tennessean, however, Norman denied knowing anything about McKeown's past. "People throughout the political system who knew him are, just like I was, totally shocked," Norman said soon after McKeown's arrest in January. "He knew the inner circles. He knew them well. "I think everyone is just totally shocked. You look back on things, and I know he would show up with boys and I think about it now, but he was such a likable guy. You just passed over it, I guess." For his part, Shookhoff said he did nothing more to pursue the allegations because McKeown was Norman's employee and, therefore, Norman's responsibility. "I immediately told Mr. Norman," Shookhoff said. "He said he would look into the matter. "Mr. Norman assured me he would take whatever action was appropriate. At this point, I really think it would be appropriate for him to respond." While McKeown had access to court files with detailed information about children, there is no evidence McKeown used his position to get access to children. However, McKeown told police he'd molested at least six children after taking the job with the Juvenile Court clerk. "If they had just done something, my child might not have had to go through this," said the rape victim's mother. "Other people's children wouldn't have had to go through it." Cayce said he thought he was doing the right thing to report McKeown to Shookhoff, as well as to Carter, the judge's then-executive assistant who is now a Juvenile Court probation officer, and Fields, who now runs Metro's tornado recovery program. Like Shookhoff, Carter and Fields both now say McKeown was Norman's responsibility. Cayce said he went to Shookhoff about McKeown not once, but twice, because McKeown began bringing boys with him to work on Saturdays. "I said, "Judge, things are not right. This guy's a pedophile,' " Cayce recalled. "His reaction was nothing. I told everybody and nobody acted on it." Shookhoff says he does not recall Cayce's approaching him a second time to complain about McKeown. But he acknowledges he never questioned McKeown or church officials after hearing the allegation. Tennessee law requires that anyone with a "reasonable suspicion" that a child has been abused must report that information to the state Department of Children's Services or the police. Yet neither agency was contacted about McKeown. "My recollection is either Mr. Cayce told me it had been reported by whoever told him or, if he had not, I'm sure I would have said make sure to tell that person to report it," Shookhoff said. Cayce said he never told the judge the allegation had been reported, and he does not recall Shookhoff's advising him to tell the church worker to report it. The mother of another of McKeown's victims believes all the court officials' explanations fall short. This mother went to police in 1995 because a doctor said her son showed signs of sexual abuse after spending the night at McKeown's home. She said Norman knew that her son, like the boy who was raped, spent lots of time with McKeown, her neighbor. "I can't believe these people knew," the mother said. "Kenny Norman let Ed McKeown take my son to (Norman's) farm. I don't know how many times my son was at Kenny Norman's. He used to have political barbecues, and my son would go help serve food." In an interview earlier this year, Norman commented on how well-known McKeown was among Nashville's political powers. "I bet any local politician in this county would know him," Norman said in February. "He probably knew more (Metro) Council people than I did. He'd be at all the political functions. Just about any judge or any elected official would know his name." Shookhoff said the matter should be further explored. "This is a terrible thing that has happened," he said. "It's important to see how the process went. I was satisfied, given the information I had in 1990, that I acted appropriately. Obviously in hindsight ... it does look like there were some missed opportunities." CORRECTION: A Sunday story incorrectly said a Nashville detective planned to put a recording device on a boy and have him confront his alleged molester, former priest Edward J. McKeown. The mother of the boy said the plan was for her to wear the recorder and confront McKeown. The Tennessean regrets the error. (CX RAN SATURDAY JULY 31 1999, 2A)
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