“Take your [clothes] off and I can please you. You have no idea what I can do,” Danelle Keim said former St. Charles Parish District Attorney Harry Morel told her just before she claims he sexually assaulted her in 2010.
Keim, formerly Danelle McGovern, made this statement to St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office deputies when they responded to her 911 call made on April 16, 2010, which they documented in two videos that became evidence in the federal case against Morel alleging he traded leniency in cases for sex.
On Wednesday (April 20), Morel pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice in connection with a near three-year investigation mainly based on Keim’s statements. U.S. Attorney Kenneth Polite said the case involved Keim, as well as more than 20 “desperate” women who he said Morel victimized but would not name.
Since Morel pleaded guilty to the felony charge in federal court, the Sheriff’s Office has released Keim’s 911 call recording and videos.
Nearly four years after Keim was found dead of a drug overdose, her recordings surfaced as key evidence against Morel.
At Wednesday’s (April 20) press conference, Polite praised Keim’s courage in aiding the FBI investigation before her death that further resulted in recorded conversations in which Morel pressed Keim to destroy a photo memory card with photographs showing both their vehicles at the St. Charles Parish Courthouse and Satellite Office at night, which resulted in the obstruction charge against Morel.
At 5:31 p.m. April 16, 2010, Keim made this 911 call to St. Charles Parish Communications after Morel came to her St. Rose residence:
Keim: “I need the cops out there.”
Dispatcher responds by getting her phone and location in St. Rose.
Keim: “I need to make a sexual harassment charge on Harry Morel”
Dispatcher: “The district attorney?”
Keim: “The district attorney. Yes.”
Dispatcher: “What’s the complaint?”
Keim: “I have all of the evidence.”
Dispatcher: “When did this happen?”
Keim: “Just now. He just left my house 10 minutes ago. He told me he was coming over here to go over my case. I got arrested for a DWI and my Breathalyzer test came out .000 so I’ve been seeing him every week to see what I can do about my charge… because if they can drop it. I called him to see if I can meet with him Monday morning to see what I can do. I didn’t know he was like that. You know… so can I … it sounded kinda weird, but he’s district attorney. I thought what kind of harm can he do, you know?”
Dispatcher: “Exactly what did he do? Briefly.”
Keim: “He grabbed me. He kissed me. He touched me in my private areas. He touched me in my ass. He wanted me to take off my clothes. He wanted me to take my pants off so he can please me.”
Dispatcher: “Okay, alright, we’re going to send somebody out there to speak with you, okay?”
According to Keim’s April 16, 2010 police statement, she further outlined incidents with Morel in which she alleged he sought her out in her DWI case.
“I got arrested about one month ago for DWI,” she states. “He saw my file and remembered me from where I work at, which is Quiznos. He called me at work the next week and didn’t want me to see a lawyer. He wanted to talk to me first.”
Keim further states she visited Morel the next Monday to explain her DWI case and he told her he wanted to help her.
“He then told me that I was very attractive and he liked me a lot …that’s why he wanted to help me,” she states. “He told me about his house in Mississippi then asked me where I live and my phone number.”
When she didn’t here from Morel for about a week, she called him on April 16, 2010 at 3:43 p.m. and left him a message. Soon after, he called back and said he wanted to meet at her house to review her case although she asked if it could wait until Monday, according to her police statement. Morel told her he was on Airline Highway and could come by her home, Keim told authorities.
“I didn’t think nothing of it because it’s the DA so I said, ‘Yeah,’” she states.
Morel arrived and presses to go inside the house, which Keim reluctantly agrees to do.
“We were talking about my case and then he just asked me to take off my clothes, and I was thinking, ‘What the hell.’ Then my phone rang and I told him I had to go pick my son up. He said well just take off your pants that he could please me and that if I wouldn’t that he could please me and that I wouldn’t know that I was missing out because he can please me very well.”
Keim again told him she had to pick up son and Morel said they would talk on Monday. As she walked him out of the house, Keim told police that Morel “grabbed my private area in between my legs then ran his hands all over my ass, and was touching me very firmly. I opened my door and told him to leave. I shut my door and, before I could close it all the way, he told me to call him any time … and if his wife answers to just tell her I’m calling about my case. And that was the end. He will be expecting me to call. When I mean ‘He’ I am referring to Harry Morel.”
To listen to Keim’s 911 call, click here.
Two years after this alleged assault, Keim began working with the FBI investigation into Morel. Her secretly recorded conversations with Morel led to the obstruction charge that Morel pled guilty to on Wednesday.
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