BY KRISTEN DELGUZZI
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Fired Harrison Police Chief Thomas Keenan will stand trial a second time on charges that he raped and fondled a female subordinate. Round 2 of the case, which ended in a mistrial last week, is scheduled to begin Sept. 22 before Judge Steven Martin of Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.
The trial date was set Wednesday, ending days of speculation about whether Mr. Keenan would be retried on three counts of gross sexual imposition and two counts of rape.
When the jury failed to reach a verdict -- the majority were voting for conviction -- prosecutors said they would have to review the case to determine whether to proceed with a second trial, offer a plea bargain or drop the case.
They elected to retry the case.
Mr. Keenan, 43, is accused of fondling the breasts of a 41-year-old Harrison city employee and molesting her. He is not accused of forcing her to have sex with him. But he is charged with rape because Ohio law considers any type of penetration to be rape.
He was fired in January, one day after he was indicted on the rape charges.
His accuser testified the events happened at the Harrison police station in 1996 and 1997. She said she wrote more than 100 sexually explicit letters to Mr. Keenan and submitted to his sexual advances because she feared losing her job.
Mr. Keenan denies the accusations, saying he resisted her frequent advances. The only time he ever touched her, he testified, was when she hugged and kissed him.
