Man arrested for allegedly fondling 6-year-old

BY JENNIFER CABRERA

Donald Bryan McKee, 66, was arrested yesterday and charged with lewd or lascivious exhibition, fondling, and battery on a child under 16.

The case was opened after the child told his mother in December of 2021 that McKee had exposed himself and then guided the child to touch McKee inappropriately sometime between September 2019 and September 2020. The mother told Gainesville Police Department (GPD) that McKee lived three doors down from them in Archer Court apartments at the time. McKee had befriended the child, who was 6 years old at the time, bringing him gifts and frequently telling the child and his mother that he and his wife had lost a child years ago who looked just like the victim. The mother and child knew him as “Dan.”

The child described the relationship as a “best friendship,” and it continued several months. One day, McKee asked the child to ask his mother if he could go with him to run an errand to a bank on Archer Road. The mother gave permission, but once there, the child said, McKee did not go into the bank. Instead, McKee allegedly got into the back seat with the child and said he wanted to show him a “secret tunnel.” He then lowered the back seat, and the two crawled into the trunk of the car, where they lay on their backs “talking.” The child reported that McKee had turned away from him and was moving his hands “vigorously.” The child said he asked McKee if he had an itch, and McKee allegedly said he did and asked the child to help him scratch it. He allegedly turned toward the child with his zipper down, and the child said he “scratched” through the zipper until he “realized what he was doing” and then stopped in “fear and shock.” The child said McKee told him not to say anything to his mother, and they got out of the trunk. After McKee finished his business at the bank, he took the child home.

The child’s mother reported that not long after the trip to the bank, McKee knocked on her door and “pleaded with her” to keep the child away from him, without explanation. The mother assumed the child had done something to offend McKee. The mother and child did not interact with McKee again, and they moved away from Gainesville in September of 2020.

The child told his mother about the incident in December of 2021, afraid that he would be in trouble and that “Dan” would harm him if he talked about it. The mother did not know “Dan’s” identity. However, they were able to tell detectives where “Dan” lived.

GPD determined that Donald Bryan McKee lived in that apartment during the time period in question. McKee is a registered sexual predator, originally convicted in 1978 in Orange County, FL. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, he has an active detainer from 2009 out of the 9th Judicial Circuit. The child’s mother positively identified McKee as “Dan” in a photo line-up. McKee is being held on $45,000 bail.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.