SMYRNA, DELAWARE (6/2/2016) A Glasgow preacher convicted of raping a 10-year-old girl has died while serving a life prison term, authorities said today.
The Rev. William J. Keichline Sr., 80, was convicted of first-degree rape in October 1989.
He was being held at Vaughn Correctional Center near Smyrna and died Wednesday at Bayhealth Kent General Hospital in Dover after a lengthy illness.
Keichline had been commended by the legislature for running the Mission of Care ministry for the homeless in Bear and also hosted a cable TV ministry.
The victim testified he had molested her more than 50 times and raped her on about half of those occasions over three years beginning when she was 7 years old, threatening to evict her family from the home they rented from him if she told anyone.
Keichline’s body was turned over to the state Division of Forensic Science as standard procedure, according to the Department of Correction, but foul play is not suspected.