McKeon changes plea to not guilty in alleged groping incident

Nebraska state Sen. Dan McKeon has changed his plea to not guilty on a disturbing the peace charge related to an alleged groping incident.

McKeon, who had been due in court Wednesday morning, entered the plea Tuesday, according to court documents.

He had originally attempted to plead no contest to the charge last week, but Lancaster County District Judge Matthew Acton ruled that he could not waive his right to appear in court, and he ordered McKeon to appear on Wednesday.

With the new plea, McKeon is now due in court on Jan. 26 at 11 a.m.

McKeon, who is from Amherst and represents District 41, was originally cited in October for public indecency stemming from an incident that occurred at an end-of-the-year party at the Lincoln Country Club in May.

A legislative staffer alleged that McKeon made a lewd comment and then grabbed her buttocks.

That staffer did not report the incident to law enforcement until September.

McKeon’s attorney, Perry Pirsch, disputed that allegation, saying in a news release last month that McKeon made a bad joke and touched the staffer on her back, not her buttocks.

“Earlier this year, at the end-of-session gathering, Senator McKeon made a single remark – a joke – to a staff member about her planned trip and hoping she and her husband would receive a ‘Hawaiian lei,’ or words to that effect, and he then patted her on the back,” Pirsch said in the news release. “It was meant in jest and nothing about his action was in any way sexually charged or lewd; just a bad pun.”

Pirsch said nothing about the interaction fits the legal definition of public indecency, which is defined as “a lewd fondling or caressing of a person.”

McKeon apologized for the incident in a letter to his accuser, saying he was, “deeply sorry for my actions at the end of session.”

Nonetheless, Gov, Jim Pillen has called for McKeon to resign, something the senator has said he will not do.

On Saturday, eight members of the legislature's Executive Committee voted unanimously to recommend that McKeon be expelled.

Senators declined comment after the vote, but Sen. Ben Hansen, who chairs the board, later issued a statement saying the decision was necessary in light of a “demonstrated pattern of behavior by Senator McKeon.”

Wednesday evening, Pirsch issued a press release saying McKeon will fight to defend his seat, once again denying the allegations, and inviting people to donate to his campaign, reject political correctness and cancel culture, and support the will of his voters.