Ron Welch
Muskingum County Prosecutor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 3, 2023
Man convicted of sexually assaulting child sentenced to prison
Nathan Keen, a 35-year-old Zanesville man convicted at trial of repeatedly sexually assaulting a child, was sentenced to 13 years in prison Wednesday morning.
Keen was convicted by a jury in December of attempted rape, four counts of gross sexual imposition, one count of kidnapping and one count of importuning.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Assistant Prosecutor Michael Hughes asked for a minimum sentence of at least 20 years, detailing how a lesser sentence would diminish the seriousness of Keen’s crimes.
At trial, jurors heard details of how Keen molested the child for years and made threats to keep the victim from telling.
The child found the courage to disclose the abuse to an adult after Keen cornered her in a bedroom in an attempt to rape her.
She also disclosed the abuse to her school guidance counselor and the school resource officer who contact detectives with the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office. The victim provided further detail of her trauma to an expert interviewer at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
During the course of the investigation, Detective Richard Perry found numerous text messages sent from Keen to the child, describing his sexual desire for the young victim.
A victim impact letter shared with the court describes how the victim went from being a happy, go-lucky child to one who isolates herself from others and loses sleep at night out of fear of Keen.
“Our office takes great pride in pursuing justice for victims. We understand that no sentence can provide adequate justice for this victim, but our hope was this defendant would be locked up for 20 years. While disappointed, the court’s sentence means this defendant won’t be preying upon children for the next 13 years,” Prosecutor Ron Welch said.
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