After Sherwood Police Officer Adam Keesee discovered that his wife had molested one of her students, he reported it to his coworkers, court records say.

But instead of investigating Denise Keesee, then a Sherwood High School teacher, her husband and five other officers set out to intimidate, harass and coerce the boy into not taking any action against her, records say.

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hat’s the crux of a $1.5 million lawsuit against Adam Keesee, five unnamed Sherwood officers and the City of Sherwood. The former student’s complaint was filed last week in

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Sheriff’s deputies arrested Denise Keesee last year on charges of sexually abusing the plaintiff and another student.

Soon afterward, the plaintiff filed a $5.1 million lawsuit against Denise Keesee and the Sherwood School District last year. That civil case is still pending.

In February, she pleaded guilty to sexually abusing one of the students, but not the one suing her. She was sentenced last month to 30 days in custody and five years of probation. As part of her plea deal, she faces a possible prison sentence if she violates her probation.

The suit against her husband, five unnamed officers and the City of Sherwood claims civil rights violations, assault and battery, false arrest and imprisonment and intentional infliction of severe emotional distress.

Sherwood City Attorney Chris Crean and Adam Keesee's lawyer, Dan Thenell, said Friday they could not comment on the allegations because they hadn't seen the complaint.

The cops began harassing the teen after he reported inappropriate contact with Denise Keesee to his school counselor and vice principal, according to his complaint. School officials, he says, didn't believe him and declined to inform police or Child Protective Services.

The complaint says that after the student reported the abuse, Denise Keesee told her husband. Adam Keesee then “began illegally using his position as a City of Sherwood Police Officer to intimidate, threaten, ridicule, assault, batter, and falsely imprison” the boy in incidents between 2007 and 2009.

Adam Keesee

The specific allegations include:

Adam Keesee pulled the teen over for driving without a license or insurance, but the teen had both; after forcing the teen to wait in his vehicle for nearly two hours, the officer “threw the license and proof of insurance back at Plaintiff, vowing that he would make it a point to take Plaintiff’s license for life”

In September 2007, the teen went to a high school football game, where Adam Keesee tackled and handcuffed him and searched his pockets, saying he had thought the cellphone in the teen’s back pocket was a gun; the cop released the teen at the field entrance and banned him from attending the game

Adam Keesee put the teen in a holding cell once and took a photo, which the officer then sent to his wife; Denise Keesee printed the picture and showed it to students in her class

The plaintiff was once speaking with a Sherwood officer about an unrelated matter when Adam Keesee arrived, exited his patrol car and began choking the teen, yelling that he could harm the teen “badge or no badge”; the other officer stopped the assault when the teen began to turn purple

Adam Keesee and another cop stopped the plaintiff in 2009 and took him to jail on suspicion of intoxicated driving, after Adam Keesee had declared he would “burn” the teen at every opportunity; a drug citation was later dropped and the plaintiff was released after spending two weeks in jail

According to the complaint, the defendants ignored reports of misconduct by the teacher, “actual knowledge of Denise Keesee grooming students for future molestation” and the abuse of multiple students.

This, the plaintiff alleges, amounted to the defendants permitting and so much as encouraging sexual abuse by Denise Keesee.

During the course of his wife's prosecution, Oregon State Police investigated Adam Keesee on allegations of intimidation, harassment and official misconduct.

Adam Keesee was placed on leave last year, and he remains on leave, the department said Friday.

The Clackamas County District Attorney's Office reviewed the state police investigation and declined to bring charges against the officer.

The cop acted unprofessionally in his dealings with the teen but didn’t commit any crimes, prosecutor Bryan Brock wrote in a February charging decision. “Officer Keesee’s conduct was motivated by personal gain and designed to harm (the teen),” the decision says.

In his memo, Brock said it was clear that Adam Keesee wanted “to get back at” the teen. However, the prosecutor concluded that crimes could not be proven.

-- Emily E. Smith