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Peters swim school instructor charged with lewd conduct toward teenage girls

TNS

Peters swim school instructor charged with lewd conduct toward teenage girls

A 44-year-old former instructor at a private swim program in Peters has been accused of making crude sexual comments to female employees, all three teenagers, giving alcohol to some of them, and trying to entice them away from their parents over a four-month period.

Robert N. Keller, who taught at Goldfish Swim School, was charged by Peters Township police this week with a felony and several misdemeanors. He was terminated from the school April 9, the same day allegations of inappropriate communication and behavior by Mr. Keller were brought to Peters Township police.

Mr. Keller was overheard talking about three girls as they walked to the swim school’s showers, saying, “This is my fantasy, seeing me and three hot chicks in a shower,” according to a criminal complaint.

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Police said Mr. Keller showed up April 10 at the Peters police station, where he admitted to “using inappropriate and sexual language” with a 16-year-old girl, the complaint said. Police described a text message in which they said Mr. Keller made a graphic sexual comment to the girl.

During the interview with police, Mr. Keller said that he was infatuated with the girl, explaining that “he believed she was inhabited by the soul of a deceased former girlfriend,” the complaint said.

He had been communicating with her for several months, giving her alcohol, helping her look into getting a tattoo without parental consent and looked into ways to emancipate her from her parents, according to the complaint.

Police said he would tell the girl to leave her phone behind to conceal her location from her mother, who was monitoring her location. And he would “offer false pretenses” so the girl wouldn’t have to reveal where she was really going, the complaint said.

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Mr. Keller invited at least two other girls to his house, police said, and he suggested they could spend the night. One, another 16-year-old, accepted an invitation in March to come over. He gave her alcohol, communicated with her in a lascivious way, asked her for photographs of herself and told her his “dream fantasy,” according to the complaint.

A third girl, who was 17, was invited to gatherings at his house at 210 Cedar Hill Drive where Mr. Keller provided alcohol, but she did not go, the complaint said. She told police that Mr. Keller had sent her “unwanted and lewd” comments. 

Peters Township police charged Mr. Keller with a felony count of interference with custody of children and misdemeanor counts of  corruption of minors, harassment and selling or furnishing liquor to minors.

Neither Mr. Keller nor his attorney could be reached for comment.

He had taught swimming at Goldfish’s Peters Township location since December 2017.

“Because the safety of our team members and students are our top priority, as soon as we learned of the allegations, the employee was removed from the premises and his employment was terminated,” Christine Palmer, regional manager for the school, said in a statement.

“It is important to note we do not condone this type of behavior at Goldfish Swim School, and have policies in place, including background checks for new employees, to ensure we are taking all necessary precautions to not hire people with previous infractions. We pride ourselves on providing a safe environment for our students and team members. We want to reassure our students, members, and employees that this [sic] isolated incident.”

Online court records show that Mr. Keller is free on a $50,000 percentage bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 28 before District Judge Jesse Pettit.

Jonathan D. Silver: jsilver@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1962 or on Twitter @jsilverpg.

First Published: April 26, 2019, 11:13 p.m.

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