West Columbia youth minister charged with sexual abuse of minor for more than two years

The Lexington Sheriff’s Department has charged a West Columbia man with sexually abusing a teenage boy for more than two years.

Michael Paul Keech was arrested and charged Thursday with three second-degree counts and one third-degree count of criminal sexual conduct with a minor under 16, according to a statement released by the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.

“Our investigation started after a family member of the alleged victim reported signs of the abuse to us,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said.

In addition to evidence gathered from the alleged victim’s home, Koon said that the victim described sexual encounters with Keech, 41, as far back as July 2019 and as recent as February 2022.

“Keech has previously held positions of trust and authority,” Koon said. “We haven’t ruled out the possibility of more people stepping forward with similar stories of abuse.”

On April 12, 2019, Keech posted on Facebook that he had started a job at the Saluda River Baptist Church. When contacted, the church’s voicemail identified Keech as the congregation’s “youth and children minister.”

A woman who picked up the phone and identified herself only as “Sheila” confirmed that Keech no longer worked at the church, but would not confirm when or why he left his position.

Keech was also a well known server at the Lil Duck Kombucha & Treehouse Cafe in West Columbia. He regularly posted about the restaurant on one of his Facebook pages.

The restaurant owners thanked the community for its support on the cafe’s Facebook page and denied any knowledge of Keech’s alleged activities.

“We do not condone abuse of any kind. We are as shocked as you are. When Michael was hired he had no prior criminal record... He was an excellent employee who did a lot to help out the team. We pray for truth & justice for the families involved to prevail, but we try to remember innocent until proven guilty.”

Facebook commenters expressed shock at the charges, describing Keech as a “Good Christian” who was a “polite” and “excellent” server.

“We encourage anyone with information about Keech that could be helpful to us as we move forward on this case to share it with us. We want to make sure we’re doing right by anyone who’s been involved in something against their will,” Koons said.

Keech is being held in the Lexington County Detention Center.