(AP) A Columbia man has been sentenced to life in prison for sexual abuse and exploitation of children.

40-year-old Charles DeCarr III was sentenced to life Friday for convictions on several charges, including first-degree statutory sodomy with a victim younger than 12 years old.

He was arrested in November 2012 after federal agents found images from Boone County on an Ohio suspect’s cellphone.

TOPEKA (AP) — In an uncertain legal climate for states banning gay marriage, Kansas lawmakers are considering a proposal designed to protect individuals, groups and businesses refusing for religious reasons to recognize same-sex unions or to provide benefits to gay couples.

State Rep. and Shawnee Republican Charles Macheers says the bill is designed to protect religious freedom. Republican Gov. Sam Brownback is receptive to the idea, though he hasn’t yet studied the proposal enough to offer a formal endorsement.

But critics say the measure promotes discrimination against gays and lesbians but is so broadly written that it could affect any gay or straight couple with a less-than-traditional union.

The Kansas House’s Federal and State Affairs Committee scheduled a Tuesday morning hearing on the measure.

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is calling for action, after the top federal watchdog for Afghanistan reconstruction reviewed-at McCaskill’s request-a series of contracts by the U.S. State Department for “justice sector support” programs in the war-torn country, and found significant lapses in oversight and accountability.

In a report released today from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction on such “rule of law” programs, the Inspector General identified ambiguous benchmarks for progress, unrealistic goals, flawed implementation of programs, and lack of performance oversight, putting at risk hundreds of millions of American taxpayer dollars. McCaskill had formally requested that the Inspector General’s office review the contracts nearly one year ago, saying at the time, “I have serious concerns about the effectiveness of the [Justice Sector Support Program].”

In one instance identified by the Special Inspector General’s report, a contract to deploy a case-management system to track criminal cases in Afghanistan’s justice system was required to be fully deployed nationwide by May of 2012. When the program failed to expand beyond seven of the country’s 34 provinces, the goals of the contract were retroactively scaled back to an implementation in just those seven provinces where the system had already been installed.

“When you have contractors utterly failing to meet goals, and then going back retroactively and changing those goals to make it seem like they succeeded, you’ve got a major problem,” said McCaskill, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Financial & Contracting Oversight. “Unfortunately, waste, fraud, and abuse has too often been the result when it comes to the billions we’ve spent in Afghanistan, and the State Department needs to take action immediately to implement safeguards over these contracts.”

Today’s report-titled “State Department Programs Need Better Management and Stronger Oversight”-also found a lack of adequate safeguards or accounting over contract costs-noting that the State Department failed to provide routine required monthly quality assurance reports tracking contract costs for nearly half the period of the contract.

(AP) University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe says he’ll recommend that tuition at the system’s four campuses not increase for the 2014-15 school year.

Wolfe said on Friday he’d send his recommendation to the Board of Trustees, who would likely take up the matter at a meeting next week.

Wolfe’s recommendation comes after Gov. Jay Nixon proposed earlier this week to put more than $80 million into higher education. But in exchange, Nixon called on Missouri colleges and universities not to raise costs.

An estimated 300 to 400 volunteers searched public and private lands in the Tuttle Cove area at Tuttle Creek Reservoir and further south and east toward Manhattan Saturday.

They were searching for Jane Peterson, who has been missing since Jan.19 . Her truck had been found at Tuttle Cove Monday evening.

Riley County Emergency Management Director Pat Collins confirmed Peterson was not found.

He said it was a volunteer search. “There were hundreds of people that showed up today to try to help them ( Peterson’s family ) find their missing family member.”

Peterson is employed as a Senior Administrative Assistant in the K-State Physics Department.

Collins said the search originated at the Tuttle Cove boat ramp. “It basically searched public and private grounds back toward Manhattan.”

Earlier in the week law enforcement authorities, Fort Riley soldiers, Corps of Engineers, Manhattan Fire Department, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and Riley County CERT had searched the Cove area but were unsuccessful in locating Peterson.

Peterson is 5 ft. 6 in. tall and weighs 140 pounds. She has red hair.

 (AP) — Lawrence police are still seeking information about the recent death of a 52-year-old man and the apparent disappearance of a 19-year-old woman who had been living at the man’s home.

Harold Sasko was found dead in his Lawrence home Jan. 17. Police had gone to the house looking for Sarah Brooke Gonzales McLinn, who had been reported missing and hasn’t yet been found.

Police spokesman Sgt. Trent McKinley says police haven’t named anyone as a suspect and it’s unclear how many people were present when Sasko was killed.

Sasko owned three pizza restaurants in Topeka and Lawrence.