A former Army recruiter and accused child molester tried to plan an escape from the Isabella County Jail.
Keith McKern went as far as to plan the escape and recruit a trusty in the jail to help him do it while he awaited trial for child sexual assault.
“I can’t say that I’ve seen someone make a plan as detailed as Mr. McKern dId,” says Alan Reimers, Isabella County Chief Assistant Prosecutor.
Isabella County Sheriff Michael Main says McKern planned to escape from his jail by climbing through a skylight and escaping on a rope ladder, he used coded messages and notes to try to recruit a jail trusty to help.
“The corrections staff noticed some transfer of some papers between the trusty and the inmate McKern,” says Main.
Corrections searched their cells and found more detailed notes, involving a late night escape and avoiding cameras.
“Whether it could have or would have, that wasn’t the point,” says Main, “It was the fact that they were pretty detailed and thought through.”
The sheriff said McKern had an excuse if he ever got caught, this wasn’t a serious plan it was just a way to keep his mind busy and bide his time while awaiting trial. When he was questioned further, he went into his Army training, saying he was trained that if he was caught as a prisoner of war he had to escape.
“Speaks about having training in the military that when you’re captured to plan your escape in to escape and so forth,” says Main, “It was kind of back-and-forth in that bit.”
He is awaiting a trial for sexually assaulting two minors he lived with.
“Mr. McKern knows that, due to the seriousness of the charges, that he’s facing multiple decades in prison,” says Reimers.
While the planned escape won’t make a dent on time served compared to the original crimes, the prosecution is ignoring the attempt.
“We’re prosecuting it and taking it seriously,” says Reimers, “We certainly want to send a message to other inmates that don’t go down this road.”
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