School officials: Ex-employee used computer for porn

BOSTON (AP) - The former medical director of an exclusive Massachusetts prep school was reprimanded for using a school computer to access adult pornography, one of the many reasons his appointment was not renewed, the school says.

But John Palfrey, the head of Phillips Academy in Andover, stressed in a Friday email to students, parents, staff and faculty that the school's concerns with Dr. Richard Keller are unrelated to a federal child pornography charge against him. Palfrey said he does not believe any of the students were the subject of Keller's alleged crime.

Keller, 56, a pediatric endocrinologist, was arrested at his Andover home Thursday. He remained in custody Friday and has a Monday bail hearing. Both Children's Hospital in Boston, where he works, and Harvard Medical School, where he is a pediatrics instructor, say they have placed him on leave.

Federal prosecutors allege that Keller purchased and ordered more than 50 DVDs of child pornography online. During a search of his home, authorities found more than 500 photographs and 60 to 100 DVDs of child pornography, according to an affidavit.

Keller was the medical director at Phillips Academy in Andover for 19 years.

Palfrey said in the email that the school told Keller in April of last year that his contract would not be renewed. Palfrey said Keller resigned and left that same month.

Palfrey said the school did not renew Keller's contract because of professional misconduct unrelated to the federal charge. He said the reasons included the reprimand in 1999, an inappropriate cartoon Keller showed students in 2002, and an inappropriate voicemail he left a colleague in 2010.

Children's Hospital has said no complaints or concerns have been expressed by any patients or family members about the care Keller provided to them at Children's.

Paige Kelly, a federal public defender who represented Keller in court after his arrest, didn't return a call seeking comment. If convicted, Keller faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and up to 20 years in prison.

Phillips Academy in Andover is one of the nation's most selective prep schools and alumni include both presidents Bush, Jack Lemmon and Humphrey Bogart.