Indiana GOP Official Locked Up for Molesting Daughter in Las Vegas Casino

Posted on: April 26, 2025, 08:34h. 

Last updated on: April 26, 2025, 08:34h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • Ex-Hancock County, Ind., commissioner John Jessup assaulted daughter during Las Vegas birthday trip
  • Victim publicly identified herself, called for maximum sentence
  • Jessup gets six to 15 years after guilty plea

A former Republican Indiana county commissioner who repeatedly told his daughter “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” before molesting her in a Strip hotel room has been sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison.

John Jessup, Hancock County Indiana, Harrah’s Las Vegas, Rachel Keesling, Indiana Republican
John Jessup, mugshot above. The former Hancock County commissioner’s daughter called on a Nevada judge to impose the longest prison sentence available on her father Thursday. (Image: Clark County Jail)

John Jessup, 50, served as a Hancock County, Ind., commissioner and county council member before he was charged with sexual assault in June 2024, just days after winning elected office.

Last November, he pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault in relation to the incident involving his daughter, Rachel Keesling, who has waived the right to anonymity usually afforded to victims of sexual misconduct.

Plied with Alcohol

In January 2024, Jessup took Keesling on a trip to Las Vegas to celebrate her 21st birthday, and the pair went to the casino floor at Harrah’s to gamble and drink, according to court documents

Jessup drank heavily and demanded that his daughter keep up with him, prosecutors said. After her third drink, she said she wanted a break, but Jessup kept ordering more drinks.

He then insisted they go to a strip club where he left her waiting at the bar while he paid for a private dance, per court filings.

Shortly afterwards, Keesling began throwing up, and the two returned to the hotel. At this point, she was so drunk that she needed to be taken to her room in a wheelchair.

Her last memory of the night was of taking a shower in her clothes before waking up to find herself naked and her father touching her, according to prosecutors. She reported the assault to police a few days later.

Jessup was arrested in Indiana and extradited to Nevada in May 2024. When questioned in Indiana, he reportedly told authorities he had done “nothing criminal” and that it was “just a f*cked-up drunk night,” prosecutors said.

‘Life Shattered’

Keesling cried as she addressed the court Thursday and asked for the longest possible prison sentence for her father, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.

“Since my biological father sexually assaulted me on Jan. 26 last year, my life feels like it’s shattered,” Keesling said.

Keesling has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, severe anxiety, and depression, and suffers from panic attacks.

She chose to identify herself publicly after voters elected Jessup to the council despite the charges that were pending at the time.

In addition to serving a prison sentence of six to 15 years, Jessup will be required to register as a sex offender.