United States v. Thomas Patrick Keelan

Procedural entryThis page is a short order in United States v. Thomas Patrick Keelan. Read the opinion of the Court — 786 F.3d 865
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit·Decided May 13, 2015·No. 13-11878·Published

Opinion

[PUBLISH]

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT

No. 13-11878

Non-Argument Calendar

D.C. Docket No. 1:12-cr-20496-JEM-1

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff – Appellee,

versus

THOMAS PATRICK KEELAN, Defendant – Appellant.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

(May 13, 2015)

Before HULL, BLACK and MELLOY, * Circuit Judges.

*

The Honorable Michael J. Melloy, United States Circuit Judge for the Eighth Circuit, sitting by designation.

BLACK, Circuit Judge:

Thomas Patrick Keelan appeals the district court’s sentence ordering restitution pursuant to the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3663A. Keelan argues the district court erred in ordering restitution because (1) 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b) is not a “crime of violence” as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 16(b); (2) the victim did not suffer a bodily injury; (3) a victim cannot recover mental health treatment expenses for a physical injury; and (4) Keelan’s criminal offense did not proximately cause the victim’s treatment expenses. Upon review, we affirm. 1 I. BACKGROUND

In the fall of 2009, J.S. started his sophomore year in high school at the Hebrew Academy in Miami Beach, Florida. Keelan was J.S.’s English teacher at the academy. J.S. was 15 years old, and Keelan was 51.

During adolescence, J.S. struggled to cope with several identity issues. As an Hispanic child born in Paraguay but adopted by Caucasian parents, J.S. worried about his place in America’s racial fabric. Though his family devoutly practiced Orthodox Judaism, J.S. questioned his own religious convictions. J.S. also carried the extra burden of negotiating his sexual attraction toward men. To blunt his

1 Keelan also raised the following three issues on appeal: (1) the district court erred in admitting J.S.’s testimony about the sex acts performed with Keelan, pornographic videos found at Keelan’s home, and sex toys and pornographic videos found in Keelan’s vehicle; (2) the district court erred in admitting the expert testimony of Dr. Terri Patterson; (3) and the district court erred in denying his sealed Federal Rule of Evidence 412(b) motion. We affirm these three issues without discussion.

emotional pain, J.S. began cutting himself—first at home and eventually during school hours.

Acting on a rumor circulating through the school, Keelan confronted J.S.

after class about his cutting. Keelan offered words of comfort and encouraged J.S. to call or text him whenever he felt the urge to cut. At Keelan’s suggestion, they began meeting each other during the school lunch hour to play chess in Keelan’s classroom and discuss J.S.’s emerging identity issues.

One night Keelan texted J.S. and revealed he was at a gay bar on South Beach. J.S. told Keelan he believed he was gay. After this exchange, Keelan and J.S. began texting and talking each day for several hours, and Keelan began inserting sexual innuendo into their conversations. Keelan eventually asked J.S. if he wanted to have sex with him, and J.S. said yes.

At trial, Dr. Terri Patterson, an expert in child exploitation offenses, testified Keelan’s interactions with J.S. were part of the “grooming process” typically employed by child predators. The six phases of grooming—identification, connection, information gathering, need fulfillment, sexual inhibition reduction, and preservation—were intended to establish Keelan’s psychological control over J.S. Based on her review of the evidence, Dr. Patterson opined Keelan groomed J.S.

On February 14, 2010, Keelan picked up J.S. near the academy and drove J.S. to Keelan’s apartment where they performed oral sex. They continued to regularly have oral and anal sex at Keelan’s apartment after J.S. transferred to another high school. Upon Keelan’s suggestion, they integrated sex toys, bondage, pornography, and sadomasochism into the relationship. Keelan blindfolded, tied, spanked, and whipped J.S.

Fearing others would discover this illicit sexual relationship, Keelan gave J.S. a burner cellphone. Keelan also taught J.S. to begin and end their written conversations with code words and expressions. Using this code, Keelan sought to ensure he was actually texting and emailing J.S., not a parent or law enforcement official.

During J.S.’s junior year of high school, Keelan moved to Virginia to take a new teaching job. Despite the long distance, Keelan selected, reserved, and paid for a room in a Hollywood, Florida hotel where he and J.S. had sex.

For reasons unknown to J.S., his parents began to suspect he was in an inappropriate relationship with Keelan. During his senior year of high school, J.S.’s parents enrolled him at a wilderness camp in Georgia and a residential treatment center in Texas. J.S. could not communicate with Keelan during this time. When Keelan returned to Florida, J.S. decided he wanted to cooperate with law enforcement officials.

A few months before his 18th birthday, J.S. made wiretapped phone calls to Keelan. Keelan revealed he kept one of J.S.’s old vocabulary tests in which J.S. scored a perfect 20 out of 20. Keelan kissed it “every day” and kept it as a talisman of J.S. During one call, Keelan admitted he was masturbating to the sound of J.S.’s voice and said he loved the way J.S. performed oral sex.

On June 1, 2012, Keelan and J.S. agreed to meet at the Hollywood Gateway Inn at Hollywood, Florida. Keelan reserved a room for seven nights with two adults and one king-sized bed. On June 15, 2012, Keelan began driving from Virginia to South Florida. On June 16, 2012, law enforcement officers surveilled Keelan stopping at the Lion’s Den in Fort Pierce, Florida. While there, Keelan bought several sex toys before resuming his journey toward J.S.

Later that day, Keelan arrived at the hotel where officers arrested him and searched his car. The search uncovered a wide array of sex toys, bondage devices, lubricant, and pornographic DVDs featuring young adult males. Following his arrest, Keelan admitted to his sexual relationship with J.S.

After a three-day trial, a jury convicted Keelan of knowingly using means of interstate commerce to persuade, induce, or entice J.S. (a minor) to engage in sexual activity, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b). 2 Keelan was convicted on one

2 Though § 2422(b) also criminalizes knowingly coercing a minor to engage in sexual activity, the parties agreed to strike the word “coerced” from the indictment and jury instructions.

count of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity from fall 2009 through summer 2011, and one count of attempting to commit the same offense from May 9 to June 16, 2012.

The district court sentenced Keelan to two concurrent prison terms of 200 months and a 25-year term of supervised release. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3664(d)(5), the district court found J.S.’s losses were not yet ascertainable and deferred a restitution ruling because the family of J.S. had not yet produced an accounting of his mental health treatment costs. The district court later referred the restitution issue to a magistrate judge because the paper record alone was insufficient to determine the appropriate amount of restitution.

The magistrate judge conducted a restitution hearing on August 7, 2013.

The magistrate judge admitted into evidence several invoices from family therapists and psychological counselors. The invoices included fees for mental health treatment.

The magistrate judge entered a Report and Recommendation (R&R)

recommending Keelan pay $104,886.05 pursuant to the MVRA, 18 U.S.C. § 3663A. The R&R concluded Keelan committed a crime of violence that resulted in bodily injury to the minor victim, and restitution was necessary for mental

The Government proceeded solely on the theory Keelan persuaded, induced, or enticed J.S. to engage in sexual activity.

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