Margaret Sullivan Keely, already facing misdemeanor charges for failing to report her husband’s alleged sexual abuse of an Oxford teenager, now is facing contempt of court charges.
On Oct. 30, the Brandon Township resident and former Oxford High School teacher, was in Clarkston 52-2 District Court for a pretrial hearing before Judge Dana Fortinberry while her husband, 64-year-old registered sex offender William Arthur Keely, faced a preliminary exam.
During the preliminary exam, the 16-year-old victim in the case testified. At one point during her testimony, both the prosecutor and Keely’s defense attorney, Richard Rosenberg, approached Fortinberry’s bench for a discussion.
That’s when, according to court recorder Jill Palulian, Keely allegedly said or mouthed two phrases to the victim: ‘I love you? and ‘I miss you.?
Palulian said because the alleged phrases were communicated while the attorneys were at the judge’s bench, it’s not certain whether they were mouthed or spoken.
She added that after Keely’s alleged communication, the victim broke down crying and the former teacher was charged with contempt of court.
Both Keely and her husband are lodged in the Oakland County Jail. As a result of the contempt charge, Keely is now being held in lieu of a $250,000 cash bond.
Because the communication took place in Fortinberry’s courtroom with the judge serving as a witness, the contempt hearing will be held in 52-4 District Court in front of Judge William Bolle. A hearing date has not been set.
Keely had taught at OHS for 24 years.
The 53-year-old recently appealed tenure charges brought against her by the school district after the school had suspended her from teaching and the court barred her from the OHS campus.