Christian teacher charged with soliciting male prostitute after claiming black men kidnapped him
Christopher Keys told family he was kidnapped, rather than admit he was meeting a man from Craigslist, police say
A former teacher at a Christian school in Macon, Ga., has been charged with solicitation of sodomy after claiming that he was in a hotel room because two black men had kidnapped him.
Christopher Keys, 56, was arrested by Bibb County police officers after they investigated a “rumor about a carjacking and kidnapping” at a CVS last week, the Macon Telegraph reports.
The rumor stemmed from a Facebook post — since deleted — which alleged that Keys was at a CVS on May 19 when “two black males quickly jumped in his vehicle and put a gun to his head.”
It then claimed that Keys — a former teacher at private Christian school Tattnall Square Academy — was driven to a nearby motel, where the men robbed him, stealing his cell phone and $70.
The woman who wrote the original post told 13WMAZ that she had heard the story from her daughter, who had heard it from Keys.
But police say that, rather than kidnapped and taken to the motel against his will, Keys was at the Regency Inn on Eisenhower Parkway to meet another man, which is where he was reportedly robbed by two men.
He allegedly fabricated the kidnapping to prevent family from finding out why he was at the motel.
Keys told police that, while in his room, a man knocked on his door. Keys allowed him to enter, after which the man reportedly told Keys to get on the bed and held a gun to his head.
A second man then entered while the first left the room to steal Keys’ wallet from his truck. After the men left, Keys reported the incident to the sheriff’s office “as a personal armed robbery,” according to a police release.
Keys attended the motel intending to meet another man after responding to a Craigslist ad, police said.
Per the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office: “An investigation revealed that Keys had been a frequent visitor to the Regency Inn & Suites since January.”
13WMAZ reported that Keys told sheriff’s deputies that he “liked to play around and was married to a woman.”
“Keys told deputies at the time of the initial report that he did not want this to get out and that he did not want deputies to talk with his relatives,” the Sheriff’s Office release states. “Keys said that he was going to tell his father that he was kidnapped from another location and brought to the motel.”
While investigating the robbery, police said they had uncovered information which led to Keys’ arrest on May 21. He has been charged with solicitation of sodomy, a misdemeanor offense, and was released on May 22 after posting $1,500 bond.
Officers continue to investigate the robbery, though Keys’ cell phone was returned to him while still at the motel, after an “unknown individual” found it in a nearby parking lot.
Though Keys was reportedly still listed as a teacher at Tattnall Square Academy on the school’s website, a spokesperson told the Macon Telegraph that he no longer worked there.
“Tattnall Square Academy was only recently made aware of the charges against our former employee, Christopher Keys,” the spokesperson said. “We have no comment or information regarding the matter about which he is accused.”
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