Andrew Keenan, an officer with the Quincy Police Department, is accused of sending a sexually explicit photo to a young woman with developmental disabilities in 2017; his father, Paul Keenan, was the department’s chief at the time, and his uncle, Tom Koch, is the city’s mayor.
Warning: This story contains graphic details that could be offensive or disturbing to some readers.
The Quincy police officer at the center of an outside investigation over allegations of inappropriate online conduct has resigned from the department, according to documents obtained by the NBC10 Boston investigators Friday.
The investigation into now-former Quincy police detective Andrew Keenan was completed Wednesday, and found that Keenan engaged in behavior that violated the department's personal conduct policy and harassment policy, the documents show.
The city of Quincy hired Kurker Paget, a Waltham-based LLC, in September to look into the case involving Keenan and allegations that he sent a sexually explicit photo of himself to a young woman with developmental disabilities.
According to police and state reports obtained by the NBC10 Boston Investigators, Keenan was accused in 2017 of sending a sexually explicit photo to a young woman who was living at a school for people with intellectual disabilities. Records show she was also under the guardianship of her parents.
Keenan admitted to engaging in inappropriate communications and conduct with a student at the Cardinal Cushing School, where he used to work, according to the executive summary of the investigation.
Investigations
The report also stated that Keenan engaged in "nonconsensual and unwelcome sexually explicit conduct" on a video call with a former friend in 2015, while wearing his police uniform. Keenan was also alleged to have used aliases while messaging former friends "to obtain private photos," although he denied that he catfished anyone.
Keenan was found to have sent "unwelcome email advances" as well as an explicit photo to a Quincy employee, the report also stated.
Keenan is politically connected. His father, Paul Keenan, retired in June, but was the Quincy Police Department's chief at the time. The officer's uncle, Tom Koch, is the city's mayor.
The department placed Andrew Keenan on paid administrative leave in July and launched an internal investigation.
In a letter dated Thursday, Quincy Police Chief Mark Kennedy recommended to Mayor Thomas Koch that a termination hearing is held to consider the dismissal of Keenan.
Keenan resigned the same day.
In Keenan's resignation letter, which was obtained by NBC10 Boston, he wrote that his leaving should "not, in any way, be construed as an admission of wrongdoing with respect to the allegations of misconduct which I steadfastly deny."
"It was troubling," newly appointed Chief Kennedy said. "We take the integrity of the Quincy Police Department and the officers that work here, their integrity, incredibly seriously.”
“I take a great deal of pride in being a Quincy police officer and leading this department and it’s definitely unsettling and upsetting to find out that one of your officers may have been engaged in conduct like that," Kennedy continued.
Policing expert Todd McGhee called the case disturbing.
"He took advantage of his office...used his position with the Quincy Police Department to essentially take advantage of this particular person," McGhee said.
The office of Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz told NBC10 Boston last year that the original case with the Cardinal Cushing student involved two consenting adults, that no criminal charges were filed and that there aren't any records of an internal investigation back in 2017.
When the NBC10 Boston Investigators confronted Keenan and his father last year, the officer declined to comment, saying he was silenced by the ongoing investigation.
Reports from the Hanover Police Department state the young woman was under the guardianship of her parents when on Aug. 17, 2017, Keenan reached out on to her on Facebook, told her he was horny, sent her the photo and asked her to send a sexual video of herself, which she did. The report also stated the Quincy officer told her to delete the conversation, that the young woman was flattered by the attention and that Keenan was remorseful.
Police reports in Hanover also state that a former Cushing student told authorities Keenan had reached out to her too that August while he had been drinking, and that the state investigated him years earlier for sexting with a student while he worked at the school. That allegation was determined to be unsubstantiated.
Paul Keenan, who hired his son, was the department's chief when the accusations first surfaced. Quincy Police Department records show there was not an internal investigation at the time.
"It was investigated by two outside agencies," Paul Keenan told the NBC10 Boston Investigators. "They thoroughly vetted it, they closed the case out without any criminal complaints."
The former chief said it was handled it as an employee assistance matter. He called this part of an ongoing criminal harassment by a former, disgraced Quincy police officer.
But newly appointed Quincy Police Chief Mark Kennedy said he immediately ordered an internal investigation when he learned of the allegations in July, placing Keenan on paid administrative leave.
"I think it's just important that the public recognizes that we're not an agency that covers up for our own," Kennedy said. "We discipline people, we've terminated people. We take the integrity of our officers very seriously."
Andrew Keenan's uncle, Quincy Mayor Tom Koch, said he was never told about the case. In a statement, he said, "The matter was handled internally at the Police Department in 2017 so I was not informed. My expectation is that it was handled appropriately."
Koch previously said he has full confidence in the current internal review.
The state’s Peace Officers Standards and Training Commission, which oversees police conduct and certifies officers, has been notified about the allegations.
