A former Miami-Dade private school English teacher was arrested in an undercover sting after he traveled to South Florida to have sex with a minor, authorities said Monday.
Thomas Patrick Keelan, 54, was arrested on June 16 following a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation into his relationship with a minor, authorities said.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Keelan had a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student between 2009 and 2010, and over the next two years, had sex with the minor approximately 60 times.
In the fall of 2010, Keelan accepted a job as the head of the English Department at a private school in Roanoke, Virginia.
Authorities say in May 2012, the victim, then 17 years old, began cooperating with law enforcement and began calling Keelan. During the calls, Keelan expressed his love for the victim and even masturbated while on the phone with the victim, authorities said.
In one call Keelan told the victim he wanted to travel to Miami to have sex with the victim, and in another call, told the victim he would meet them at the same hotel in Hollywood where they had sex before.
On May 28, Keelan reserved a room at the hotel for seven days, beginning June 16. He later told the victim he would drive down from Virginia on June 15, authorities said.
When Keelan entered the hotel on June 16, he was arrested. He was charged with attempting to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity and traveling in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with a minor.
He made his first appearance in federal court Monday and it's unknown whether he has an attorney.
According to the Miami Herald, Keelan taught English at Miami Country Day School for several years before teaching at Rabbi Alexander S. Gross Hebrew Academy in Miami Beach. He was placed on administrative leave from his job at the English department at North Cross School in Virginia, according to the Herald.
