BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A 41-year-old Harrison woman testified Thursday that former Harrison police chief Thomas Keenan, who is charged with raping her, "played mind games" and manipulated her into complying with his demands.
Mostly, she said, she feared Mr. Keenan would have her fired from her job as Harrison Mayor's Court clerk. And she desperately needed the money and benefits to support her daughter and ailing grandson.
She testified in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court that Mr. Keenan needed no other weapon to force her into writing more than 100 sexually explicit notes. She alleges he fondled her three times and twice raped her at the Harrison police station where they both worked.
Mr. Keenan is being tried on two counts of rape and three counts of gross sexual imposition.
Defense attorneys Nancy Dameron and Firooz Namei have repeatedly said that no rape was committed because there was no weapon, no physical violence nor drug used.
The woman said she exchanged cards and gifts with Mr. Keenan on birthdays and holidays -- during the time she says she was harassed and raped. She gave presents to other co-workers, as well. "It's just my nature," the woman said.
She also said she befriended Mr. Keenan's mother, Jo Keenan, and told her she was worried about her son after the Harrison City Council investigated the woman's claims of sexual harassment. That investigation prompted Mr. Keenan to file a $5 million defamation lawsuit against the municipality.
"I felt sorry for what (Mr. Keenan) was going through. . . . I assured (Mrs. Keenan) that I really felt he needed counseling," the woman testified.
Yet several times, when attorney Dameron paused, the woman raised her voice and vehemently defended her actions. She said Mr. Keenan was manipulative and moody.
"If I didn't write these (sexually explicit letters to Mr. Keenan), the rest of my day would be hell," she testified. "It is not in my nature to write this kind of filth. But I was in over my head."
