PAWNEE COUNTY — A Pawnee County jury Wednesday took twenty minutes to find a Kansas man guilty of aggravated sexual battery for an incident that took place in 2018, according to a media release from Pawnee County Attorney Douglas McNett.

According to testimony during the one-day trial, on May 3, 2018, 65-year-old Russell McFarland followed a 19-year-old female staff member into a staff-only area of Larned State Hospital, forced her into a corner and tried to kiss her on the lips.

The staff member was able to get free once another patient on the unit intervened.  At the time, the McFarland was a patient in the sexual predator treatment program. Additional testimony was presented that other patients on the unit were aware of McFarland’s intense infatuation of the staff member and were keeping an eye out for her once they saw her on the unit that day.

Sentencing in the case is scheduled for March 18.  McFarland was returned to the custody of Larned State Hospital pending sentencing.

Depending on his criminal history, McFarland faces between 31 and 136 months in the custody of the Department of Corrections, according to McNett.