Crime & Safety

Local Pediatrician Sentenced for Child Porn

Dr. Richard Keller worked at Boston Children's Hospital, among other establishments.

Dr. Richard Keller, a former Andover pediatrician, on Wednesday was sentenced to 6 1⁄2 years in prison for having a huge stash of child pornography.

Keller, who worked at Phillips Academy and Boston Children's Hospital, was arrested in 2012. Police said they found more than 500 photos and about 100 videos of child pornography at his Andover home. The material depicted minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct; some of them were boys between the ages of 7 and 16, prosecutors said.

“Any crime that preys upon children, the most vulnerable and precious population, is reprehensible,” said U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz in a statement. “But when the predator is in a position of trust, as Mr. Keller was as a pediatrician, it is particularly disturbing."

Keller, 57, was also sentenced to 5 years of supervised release. He will be required to register as a Level 3 sex offender.

Police said he had some of the pornography mailed to himself at Phillips Academy, where he was medical director for 19 years.

Prosecutors said Keller ordered about $2,600 worth of child pornography from a company in Toronto. Authorities previously seized the company’s customer database, which revealed Keller was a customer.

As part of his plea agreement, Keller admitted that he has had a "long-standing" sexual interest in adolescents since the early 1970s. He admitted to viewing child pornography on the Internet and that he had previously tried to stop, but failed to do so.

Keller was also a pediatrics instructor at Harvard Medical School.

The case was prosecuted as part of the federal Project Safe Childhood initiative.


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