WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A lawsuit says a Wichita cab driver convicted of raping a passenger should have been denied a taxi license because he was on a state sex offender registry when he applied.

The Wichita Eagle reports Bryon Scott Spohn was sentenced to 48 years in 2013 for raping a passenger.

He had applied for a taxi driver’s license in late 2012 when he was on a state sex offender registry for possession of child pornography. A city ordinance that went into effect in July 2012 says a taxi driver’s license shall not be issued to anyone who’s been registered as a sexual offender.

City officials say the change banning registered sex offenders was new when Spohn applied and hadn’t been communicated to staff. The city says it’s fixed that problem.