OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A former high school teacher and Shawnee City Council member pleaded no contest to having a sexual encounter with a student.
Justin Adrian, who taught social studies teacher at Olathe East High School, pleaded Thursday to aggravated battery and misdemeanor sexual battery. He will be sentenced Jan. 8.
Adrian, who is 33, began talking to the Olathe East student through an online dating apps. The sexual encounter occurred in a classroom at Olathe East High School.
The student was 18, but it is illegal in Kansas for a teacher to have sexual contact with a student at the same school.
Adrian resigned from the Shawnee City Council but resigned when the allegations surfaced.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A man who helped kidnap a 9-year-old girl in Wichita and assisted her killer is up for parole for the fifth time.
Wacker is currently being held in the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility
Bo Shoemaker told members of the Prisoner Review Board on Wednesday that 56-year-old Donald Wacker should remain behind bars for failing to help his daughter, Nancy Shoemaker.
Wacker has a parole hearing next month. He’s already spent 27 years in prison for helping Doil Lane kidnap Nancy near her south Wichita home in 1990. After the abduction, the men drove Nancy to a Sumner County field where Lane raped her and strangled her with a belt as Wacker watched. Her body was found more than six months later.
The Shoemaker family now lives in Florida but traveled to Derby for the latest Kansas Department of Corrections public comments session.
TOPEKA–The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) on Thursday announced findings and recommendations resulting from a five-year collaborative effort to identify, inventory, and test previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits in Kansas. Achievements of the Kansas Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) were detailed, and a new statewide public awareness campaign to confront social biases related to sexual assault was launched.
In 2014, the KBI formed the Kansas SAKI project. In 2017, Kansas became the first state in the country to complete the statewide inventory with 100 percent voluntary law enforcement participation. As a result, 2,200 previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits were identified. Local law enforcement agencies submitted the majority of those kits to a forensic laboratory for analysis. Testing has been completed on nearly 2,000 kits. Testing on the remaining kits is expected to be completed by the end of October.
“Because of our leadership role in public safety, it was important for us to initiate this project and collaborate with key stakeholders to implement a statewide strategy that we believe will help solve crimes and prevent additional victimization of our citizens,” KBI Director Kirk Thompson said. “Having substantially completed testing on so many kits using in-state laboratories was a significant undertaking, and a noteworthy accomplishment. As a result, we have identified serial sexual offenders and solved cases.”
To date, forensic testing enabled 373 biological profiles from evidence to be entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) and resulted in 234 CODIS hits, each of which may be considered a new investigative lead in a criminal case. As a result of the SAKI project, two cases were successfully prosecuted and one other resulted in an acquittal. Several criminal cases are still pending review by local law enforcement and prosecutors.
“Since the KBI proactively initiated these efforts more than five years ago, a great amount of work has been done to test the backlog of kits and to address the underlying issues that led to the backlog,” Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said. “I am grateful to the remarkable group of experts who came together to make this happen, and I’m confident that we will continue to experience SAKI’s positive impact on victims and investigations of sexual assault in Kansas moving forward.”
Evaluating the kits associated with this Initiative also provided valuable information about the link between sexual assault and other violent crimes – something the KBI researched extensively. They found that 93% of the suspects named in the SAKI cases had criminal histories that included other violent offenses. Collectively, these same individuals committed over 7,000 additional crimes. The multidisciplinary working group felt strongly that these staggering numbers demanded more proactive attention and action.
Beyond generating new investigative leads in criminal cases, they kindled efforts to reform law enforcement practices, increase laboratory resources, increase victims’ access to services and support, and improve the outcome of criminal cases. Through the SAKI project, over 1,300 Kansas professionals were trained on trauma-informed sexual assault investigation and the importance of a multidisciplinary response to sexual assault.
“Responses to sexual assault have historically been fragmented. Victims often have to navigate difficult systems with limited support,” said Joyce Grover, executive director of the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. “This project has addressed work that was long overdue in Kansas. By coordinating our efforts and recognizing the importance of advocacy and a trauma-informed response, I am hopeful we have made and will continue to make big changes in Kansas.”
The KBI used SAKI project funding to commission the development of a unique statewide public awareness campaign focused on educating Kansans about the prevalence and realities of sexual assault. The campaign also seeks to overcome the normalization of sexual violence, and other common biases surrounding sexual assault.
The campaign, titled “Yes, This Room,” includes broadcast TV and digital messages directing viewers to a website that includes conversation guides for the general public, parents, medical providers, and university students. To view the website and conversation guides, visit https://YesThisRoom.com.
“Through SAKI, we became keenly aware of how infrequently sexual perpetrators are held accountable for the crimes they commit and how often they go on to commit other acts of violence. This demanded our immediate attention,” said Katie Whisman, KBI executive officer and Kansas SAKI project director. “We quickly realized that increasing offender accountability also required involvement of the public, and the idea for a statewide public awareness campaign was born.”
The “Yes, This Room” campaign calls on Kansans to become familiar with the facts, myths, and biases about sexual assault, and to use that information to shift the current narratives surrounding sexual assault. It encourages Kansas to focus on the offender’s role in sexual violence so our communities will be safer places to learn, work, and live.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former federal prosecutor from Kansas abandoned his Senate run on Thursday and endorsed a fellow Democrat who just entered the race.
Barry Grissom urged Democrats to unite behind state Sen. Barbara Bollier, a retired Kansas City-area anesthesiologist who made headlines in December by defecting from the Republican Party. Bollier was formerly a GOP moderate often at odds with the party’s more conservative leaders and is running as a “pragmatic” Democrat and centrist.
Please take a moment to read my full letter to friends and supporters here, then join me in supporting @BollierBarbara and doing everything we can to make history in Kansas in 2020. 6/6 https://t.co/Rtwi48s62j#KSleg#KSsen
Grissom’s move comes with some top Republicans worried that former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a take-no-prisoners conservative who built a national profile by advocating for tough immigration policies, will capture the GOP nomination next year. Kobach, a former Kansas secretary of state, lost last year’s governor’s race to Democrat Laura Kelly.
Republicans had attacked Grissom over a federal judge’s ruling in August that the U.S. attorney’s office for Kansas had improperly listened to recorded conversations between inmates at a federal detention center in Leavenworth from 2010 and 2017. Grissom was the U.S. attorney for much of that time but has said he didn’t know about his subordinates’ actions.
Democrats haven’t won a U.S. Senate race in Kansas since 1932, but they see Kobach winning the Republican nomination as their best chance for picking up the seat held by Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, who isn’t seeking a fifth term.
“If we’re going to make history in Kansas, it will require an extraordinary commitment to changing the trajectory of our country, and maybe a little bit of luck, too,” Grissom said in a statement posted on his campaign website. “I know a drawn-out primary would be unquestionably harmful and set us all back in this fight.”
Bollier immediately issued a statement saying she’s honored by Grissom’s endorsement and thanking him for his “steadfast commitment to the people of Kansas.”
Grissom’s announcement doesn’t completely clear the Democratic field for Bollier, as Manhattan Mayor Pro Tem Usha Reddi is also seeking the party’s nomination.
Besides Kobach, other Republican candidates include U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall, of western Kansas; Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, and Dave Lindstrom, a Kansas City-area businessman and former Kansas City Chiefs player.
Grissom is a Kansas City-area attorney and an executive in a company that invests in the legal marijuana industry. He was U.S. attorney for Kansas from 2010 until 2016 under Democratic President Barack Obama.
Some Democrats think Bollier has a good chance of attracting moderate GOP votes in a general election campaign, particularly if the Republican nominee is Kobach.
“I think reality sunk in and Barry decided, ‘It’s probably better for me to just endorse Barbara Bollier,'” said Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat.
According to a presidential proclamation, flags are to be flown at half-staff through Friday in memory of Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, who died Thursday of complications from longstanding health problems. He was 68.
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Women are now legally allowed to go topless in Manhattan, with some restrictions.
The Manhattan City Commission on Tuesday unanimously decided to amend the city code to allow females to go topless. Watch the board meeting here.
However, property owners and businesses may still require all patrons to wear shirts.
City Attorney Katie Jackson recommended the change to avoid potential lawsuits. She said the code could be changed again later.
Jackson cited a federal ruling in February 2017 that blocked Fort Collins, Colorado, from enforcing a law against women going topless. Fort Collins is in the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, as is Kansas.
She said the government could still prosecute a topless woman who is acting in a lewd manner, which is against state law.
ATCHISON COUNTY — Two people died in an accident Wednesday in Atchison County.
Deputies responded just before midnight to the intersection of River Road and 244th in rural Atchison County, according to a media release from the sheriff’s department.
A train traveling approximately 45 miles per hour struck a 2015 Hyundai Elanta that was stopped on the tracks.
First responders found Jeremy W. McAfee, 34, Savanah, Mo., outside the vehicle and Allison L. Richardson, 34, Platte City, Mo. inside, according to the release.
Richardson was pronounced dead at the scene. EMS transported McAfee to the hospital in Atchison where he died.
KANSAS CITY(AP) — A 37-year-old man who had been missing for a week is hospitalized after being found in a wrecked car at the bottom of a ravine.
Lee’s Summit police say a dirt bike rider found Ryan Linneman, of Lee’s Summit, Wednesday evening in the wreckage along Interstate 470 in Kansas City.
Linneman was taken to a hospital with critical injuries. Lee’s Summit police spokesman Sgt. Chris Depue says he did not have an updated condition report Thursday.
Police asked the public for help finding Linneman after he was last seen driving his car on Oct. 9.
The crash investigators determined Linneman’s car ran off of Interstate 470 and went down a 50-foot incline. The vehicle landed in a gully that was obscured from the view of passing motorists.
SALINE COUNTY —Numerous locations across the United States have received checks purported to be from Frisbie Construction.
The problem is that Frisbie Construction, 7793 East Kansas Highway 4, didn’t send the checks.
Those who received the checks were told to send a text a number confirming they had received the checks, according toSaline County Sheriff’s Captain Jim Hughes.
The number was not a Salina phone number or a Frisbie Construction phone number.
Persons who texted then received a text back asking which check it was and for what amount, according to Hughes and it was not clear how the check forgers actually made money off the scam.
Frisbie Construction officials told Salina Post that so far, counterfeit Frisbie checks had been received in 19 states and the District of Columbia between Sept. 9 and Monday.
Twenty-eight checks totaling $99,956.40 were actually presented to recipients’ banks, however, Frisbie Construction’s bank, UMB, declined payment on the checks, according to Frisbie Construction officials.
Additionally, Frisbie Construction received 49 phone calls during that period from people wondering why they were receiving the checks.
In fact, the first phone call the company received was the first notification that anything was amiss and allowed Frisbie Construction to notify UMB about the situation before any checks were presented for payment, thus allowing the company to avoid losing any money, the company told Salina Post. The checks associated with those 49 phone calls totaled $176,928.53, Frisbie Construction officials told Salina Post.
The company said that some of the checks looked more professional than others, but all had the same clear signature. Additionally, checks were all different colors, the company noted.
Hughes said that some sort of data breach is suspected, but officials have yet to determine where that breach happened.
FORD COUNTY — Authorities are investigating the cause of an explosion that injured employees at the Cargill plant in Dodge City early Thursday.
The explosion was in a small stand-alone building at the protein facility and two employees are being treated for burns, according to a statement from Cargill.
As a precaution, production at the plant was suspended for the day. Cargill authorities released no additional details.
Rep. Russ Jennings, R-Larkin, chair of the Joint Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice, said the Kansas child welfare system has long been ‘deeply troubled.’ Evert Nelson / The Topeka-Capital-Journal
By PEGGY LOWE & SHERMAN SMITH Kansas News Service
From cries of heartbreak to a call for the prosecution of men who pay for sex with girls, Kansas lawmakers said the story of Hope Zeferjohn, a teen victim of sex-trafficking who was prosecuted for sex crimes, focuses a harsh light on a state system that is supposed to protect children.
“My heart breaks for these children,” said Sen. Richard Hilderbrand, a Republican from Galena. “Our system has failed at the one thing that it is supposed to do, and that is to protect our children.”
The series outlined how Zeferjohn, then 14, met her boyfriend, Anthony “Angel” Long, a decade older than her, and fell under his control while still living with her family in Topeka. After she was placed into state custody, Long found her in a Salina foster home by calling authorities and pretending to be Zeferjohn’s father, she said. Zeferjohn ran away when she was 15 and Long began prostituting her.
“How can we allow a child predator to trick our system into giving them the location of one of our children?” Hilderbrand said. “What steps have we taken to make sure that this never happens again? These questions have to be answered and have to be fixed.”
Because Zeferjohn recruited other girls for Long’s prostitution ring, she was convicted of aggravated sex trafficking. She is serving a six-year sentence in the Topeka Correctional Facility and must be on the sex-offender registry for life. Zeferjohn is seeking a pardon from Gov. Laura Kelly, and on Wednesday, the Kansas City Star and the Topeka Capital-Journal editorial boards called for Kelly to give Zeferjohn clemency.
Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat, said law enforcement should instead focus on the men paying for sex with a child.
“If we’re going to be spending that money on prison bed space, I don’t know, gosh, how about we start incarcerating the johns?” Clayton said. “Let’s incarcerate the complete and total garbage people that are having sex with 15-year-olds. Because they need to be put away. They’re the problem. They’re terrible people. I have no sympathy for that.”
Last year, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt launched a public awareness campaign to discourage paid sex. His spokesman, CJ Grover, on Wednesday renewed the call to prosecute buyers.
“The driving force behind commercial sexual exploitation, including sex trafficking, is the demand for commercial sex,” Grover said. “Buyers who create that demand must be held accountable for their role in enabling sex trafficking and other forms of commercial sexual exploitation. The attorney general would be supportive of more local prosecutions of buyers.”
An increase in runaways from the state’s foster care system stems from the policies of former Gov. Sam Brownback. After he took office in 2011, the foster care population ballooned from 5,200 to nearly 7,500. Child placement agencies struggled to recruit homes for the additional children, leading to an increase in runaways who didn’t find the care they needed.
Then-Gov. Sam Brownback (center) of Kansas poses with the Zeferjohn family on May 22, 2015, to kick off ‘Family Reunification Month.’ Terry Zeferjohn, Hope’s father, is in the back row, left, and four Zeferjohn children are in the front row. Kansas Department for Children and Families photo
In 2015, Brownback staged a photo op with the Zeferjohn family to tout his administration’s efforts to reunite families. Hope Zeferjohn was missing from the photo because the 16-year-old was already under the control of Long, who is now serving a 35-year prison sentence.
Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, said the photo op was a typical example of how Brownback’s administration operated.
“They were taking credit for things they really didn’t understand, nor did they really accomplish what they were taking credit for,” Hensley said. “I think that’s a perfect example.”
Also Wednesday, a legislative committee heard about the “deeply troubled” child welfare system in Kansas. Lawmakers were told that reforms made in 2017 moved troubled kids into foster care, where those with severe behaviors are hurting other kids, destroying property and scaring away foster families.
Two state foster care providers said this new influx of children has severely overwhelmed an already taxed system, leaving a chaotic situation where kids are sleeping in offices and providers are wondering if they can ever find them a home.
“We have seen traumatic, tragic events that keep me awake at night,” said Rachel Marsh of Saint Francis Ministries, one of the foster care providers, in testimony before a joint committee on corrections and juvenile justice oversight.
“The child welfare system in Kansas is deeply troubled,” said Rep. Russ Jennings, R-Larkin, chairman of the legislative panel. “But trouble within the child welfare system is not news.”
Problems with foster care in Kansas have existed for years, Jennings said, and the situation hasn’t improved.
Sen. Molly Baumgardner, R-Louisburg, said she is still bothered by the large number of runaways from the foster care system, which came to light two years ago. She also was unhappy that state officials aren’t providing lawmakers with updates on the number of runaways and locations where it is happening.
The problems within the child welfare system happen because state and local agencies aren’t working together, Baumgardner said.
“We have our schools are not working with our foster program, are not working with law enforcement, and so we have silos, and those silos need to be getting together, working together to serve our kids,” she said. This story is part of a partnership between KCUR and The Topeka Capital-Journal, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting in collaboration with APM Reports, the investigative reporting unit of American Public Media.
Peggy Lowe is a reporter at KCUR. She’s on Twitter@peggyllowe.
Sherman Smith is a reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He’s on Twitter at@sherman_news.
OSAGE COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged animal cruelty.
Last weekend, the Osage County Sheriff’s office issued a public warning about dogs that were reported loose west of Lyndon, according to Sheriff Laurie Dunn.
She said the Alaskan Tundra Shepherds in question had been moved and authorities did not know where. All the dogs were moved from the property, according to the owner’s attorney.
On Wednesday, deputies arrested Christi Lynne Shaffer, 53, of Lyndon, Kansas, who is the owner of the emaciated dogs, according to Dunn. Shaffer remains in custody on 20 counts of cruelty to animals and 3 counts of permitting a dangerous animal to be at large.
The sheriff’s office released no additional details early Thursday.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Federal prosecutors say police seized 144 pounds of methamphetamine in tires stored at a shed at a Kansas City man’s home.
The man, 38-year-old Jorge Rodriquez-Gonzalez, was charged this week in U.S. District Court with drug trafficking.
Charging documents allege a confidential source bought a minimum of one kilogram of meth from Rodriguez-Gonzalez at least five days a week.
Prosecutors said that on Oct. 10, Rodriguez-Gonzalez was arrested after showing up for a drug buy with his wife and two young children. Police confiscated weapons, vehicles and drugs, including the methamphetamine inside four tires in a shed near Rodriquez-Gonzales’s home.
Court records show Rodriguez-Gonzalez told authorities he lived where the drugs were found but didn’t know how the tires got into his shed.
