Licensed Child Psychologist Convicted on Child Porn Charges

A former youth counselor has been convicted on child pornography charges. Donald Leonard Keys, 59, of St. Paul, was convicted of two felony counts for 26 pictures he took in 2001 of a 16-year-old boy in sexually explicit poses. The jury deliberated for about six hours following a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge David Doty, and returned its verdict Thursday.

According to statements made in court, Keys was working as a crisis counselor for a teen suicide hot line. Federal prosecutors said he met his 16-year-old victim in an Internet chat room where he was pretending to be a young, attractive homosexual male. The boy informed the Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force of the photographs last year. He told investigators he believed he was manipulated into posing and was worried that Keys may have sent the images over the Internet.

Keys was once a licensed social worker in Minnesota and Wisconsin. He obtained the license after hiding a 1971 conviction for attempted sodomy that would have disqualified him, officials said. He forfeited the social worker license in 1996 after his role in a scheme to defraud an elderly man of his money became public. Federal authorities say Keys still is licensed as a child psychologist in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

A sentencing date has not been scheduled. Keys faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and up to 30 years for producing child pornography and a mandatory two years and up to 10 years for possession of child pornography.