MOUNT VERNON — A hearing in the case of Gary Thomas “Tom” Keesee Jr. on Tuesday focused on whether evidence from a grand jury was disclosed before it should have been.
Additionally, defense attorney Samuel Shamansky questioned why law enforcement officials did not document phone calls with alleged victims.
A Knox County Grand Jury indicted Keesee on April 21, 2025, on 27 counts of sexual abuse. Five additional counts were added later. On April 20, Granville resident Sabrina Warner, a Utica High School graduate, posted on Facebook that 27 counts would be filed against Keesee. Warner was on vacation in Florida at the time.
When Common Pleas Judge Richard Wetzel questioned Warner how she knew that 27 counts would be filed, Warner said she guessed.
Gary Thomas Keesee Jr. case
Gary Thomas Keesee Jr., a former Faith Life Church chief media officer, was indicted in April of 2025 on 27 sexual abuse counts.
A Knox County grand jury handed down the indictments which included 11 charges of first-degree rape.
He was also indicted on 11 counts of sexual imposition, a third-degree felony, and five counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, fourth-degree felonies.
A grand jury indicted him on an additional five rape and sexual abuse counts in May 2025.
Keesee resigned his church post in August 2024.
The suspect is the son of Gary and Drenda Keesee, co-pastors of the church based in New Albany. Drenda Keesee is also a Knox County commissioner.
The self-employed woman acknowledged to Shamansky she was heavily invested in the case. Warner said she has a lot of different sources and could not recall how she received information. She also could not recall whether someone approached her in Florida.
Additionally, Warner posted that a Keesee family member was subpoenaed; that information was not public.
Warner said she is unsure if she knows anyone in the Knox County courthouse.
Tuesday’s hearing originally was the start date of Keesee’s jury trial. Wetzel delayed the jury trial and changed the court proceeding to an evidentiary hearing on May 13.
When Shamansky questioned Warner about a post she made a week ago stating that the trial is delayed again, she said “it was a guess.”
Warner was argumentative at times with Wetzel, to the point where the bailiff prepared to take her into custody for contempt of court.
During the exchange, Warner said she had no respect for the court system.
Wetzel recalled Warner to the stand after the other witnesses testified, asking whether she believed a citizen has constitutional rights, whether those rights should be protected, and whether she has the right to be defended if those rights are violated.
She replied yes to all three.
“If you have a constitutional right violated, the only place you have to go to is the court,” Wetzel told her. “The court system is what defends your constitutional rights.”
The judge prohibited Warner from deleting any texts, emails, or social media posts and said he will order her to produce them to determine which source provided her with the information.
Defense attorney questions undocumented phone calls
Other witnesses who testified on Tuesday included Det. David Berger of the Columbus Police Department, Det. Matt White of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, and Det. Gus Moore and Capt. Jay Cook of the Licking County Sheriff’s Office.
According to documents received from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Berger reached out to Columbus Police Det. Brian Sheline for guidance in mid-December 2024, after learning about a possible sexual abuse situation.
Sheline forwarded the information to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. White interviewed two of the alleged victims. The first interview was video recorded and included an FBI agent present.
The second was a recorded phone call because the victim was out of state.
White testified on Tuesday about the recording processes and providing the information to Licking County.
Moore and Cook led the investigation after the KCSO turned over the investigation due to a conflict of interest. Keesee’s mother, Drenda Keesee, is a Knox County commissioner; the Board of Commissioners oversees the KCSO budget.
Shamansky questioned Berger, Moore and Cook about undocumented phone calls they had with several of the victims. The length of the calls ranged from nine to 34 minutes.
The victims initiated some of the calls; law enforcement initiated others. Some calls occurred before Keesee Jr. was indicted, others after.
The officers did not recall the specific conversations Shamansky asked about, but all three said the communication did not involve interviews or anything relevant or significant to the case, otherwise they would have documented them.
Examples cited as not being significant included questions about process.
Special Licking County Prosecutor Jenny Wells noted one conversation could have been to notify a victim of an April 21 press conference.
Cook said some conversations correspond to dates where the government asked him to reach out to the victims for recordings.
New trial date set
Following the hearing, Shamansky said Tuesday’s proceeding might or might not affect the case.
“But as officers of the court and as members of the system of justice, it’s our sworn duty to make sure that the rules are followed. For people to have inside information about a grand jury proceeding could be devastating,” he said.
Shamansky said although he doubted law enforcement was involved in the information leaks, he did say it can impact a case when victims are speaking to law enforcement and the conversations are not recorded.
“What we don’t understand is how a high-ranking law enforcement individual could have 30-plus undocumented phone calls with an indicted alleged victim,” he said. “They try to characterize it as meaningless procedural drivel, but 30 minutes, call after call after call, is extremely vexing.”
Wetzel did not make any decisions about the evidence in Tuesday’s testimony. Although he acknowledged the media’s presence at the hearing, he ordered the transcript sealed. He set a new trial date of Sept. 29.
