ATCHISON COUNTY — Two people were injured in an accident just after 7a.m. Friday in Atchison County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2005 Chevy Impala driven by Skylar D. Coady, 21, Atchison, was traveling on U.S. 73 five miles west of Atchison.
The Chevy rear-ended a school bus from Atchison County Community Schools driven by Kimberly J. Myers, 56, Lancaster, that had slowed to turn south on Lincoln Road.
Coady and one of 12 students on the bus Dylan Mullins, 12, Atchison, were transported to the hospital in Atchison.
Both drivers were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
WICHITA, KAN. – Already sentenced to prison for his role as the alleged ringleader in a bomb plot, Patrick Stein, 50, of Wright, Kan., pleaded guilty Friday and was sentenced to an additional 44 months in federal prison for possession of child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.
Patrick Stein-photo Butler Co.
Stein pleaded guilty to one count of possessing child pornography. In his plea, he admitted investigators found up to 149 images of children engaged in sexual activities on his laptop computer and USB drives.
Investigators found the child pornography after obtaining a warrant to search Stein’s computer for evidence of his part in a plot to detonate multiple bombs at an apartment complex in Garden City where Somali refugees were living.
In January, Stein was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for his role in the bomb plot. He will serve the sentence for the child pornography conviction consecutively with the sentence in the bomb case.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Catholic priest who has admitted abusing as many as 30 youths in Illinois, California and Missouri over 25 years faces new charges.
74-year-old Fred Lenczycki photo courtesy child Sex Offender of Illinois
74-year-old Fred Lenczycki, of the Chicago suburb of Berkeley, Illinois, was charged Thursday in St. Louis County with two counts each of deviate sexual assault and sodomy. Charging documents say he abused two boys in the 1990s in the St. Louis suburb of Bridgeton.
He was removed from the ministry in 2002, when he was charged with sexually abusing three boys in the mid-1980s in Illinois. Prosecutors say he was transferred to Missouri after the parents of one of those victims complained.
He isn’t yet in custody in Missouri. No attorney is listed for him in online court records.
A federal judge has frozen the assets of a Kansas City, Kansas-based sect that was hit with a $7.9 million judgment last year for human trafficking.
U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson found that members of the group formerly known as the United Nation of Islam had fraudulently transferred assets to non-profit groups they created in order to prevent Kendra Ross, the woman who obtained the judgment, from collecting the money.
Royall Jenkins, as he appears on the United Nation of Islam’s Wikipedia page. CREDIT CREATIVE COMMONS
The United Nation of Islam was formed four decades ago by a Kansas City, Kansas, truck driver named Royall Jenkins who once proclaimed himself to be Allah. Once a member of the Nation of Islam, Jenkins formed the splinter group after he fell out with the Nation of Islam.
Last May, U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree ordered Jenkins and The Value Creators Inc., a successor group to the United Nation of Islam, to pay $7.9 million in damages to Ross for making her work for them without pay over the course of a decade. The judgment is thought to be the largest ever handed down in a human trafficking case.
“Here, with reckless disregard for plaintiff’s health and safety, defendants intentionally and maliciously trafficked and forced her to work in their residences for excessive hours – all with no pay or benefits,” Crabtree wrote in his 57-page ruling.
Ross, who said she was forced to work for the sect starting when she was 11 years old, alleged that Jenkins had at least 13 wives and 20 children. She said she was forced to cook, clean, babysit and work without pay or benefits. She also said she was subjected to physical and emotional abuse, and was rarely given time off.
The Value Creators once operated a variety of businesses in the Quindaro district of Kansas City, Kansas, with names like Your Diner, Your Supermarket, Your Service Station and Your Colonic Center.
More recently, it opened a “teaching restaurant” called The Royall Touch directly across the street from the federal courthouse where it was sued by Ross. The Kansas City Business Journal reported in December that the restaurant received zoning, planning and building inspection approvals from the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas and passed a health inspection.
Members of The Value Creators did not return a phone message left for them at the restaurant.
On the day Crabtree handed down his judgment, a member of The Value Creators incorporated a nonprofit called The Promise Keepers, Inc. and a few months later another group called The Promise Keepers 417 Inc. The assets of The Value Creators were subsequently transferred to the newly formed groups.
Judge Robinson’s temporary restraining order prohibits new groups from disposing of their assets. It also bars them from opening or closing accounts and from opening “any new entities or trusts” without prior court approval.
Elizabeth Hutson, one of Ross’ attorneys, said she was pleased with the ruling.
“Our goal is to prevent the transfer of assets in further frustration of Ms. Ross’ ability to collect on the judgment entered last May,” she said.
Dan Margolies is a senior reporter and editor in conjunction with the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @DanMargolies.
Rain will overspread the area tonight into Saturday morning. Isolated thunderstorms are possible Saturday afternoon for areas south of Highway 36. Rain will transition to snow across northwest Missouri late Saturday afternoon and early evening. Heavy snow and blowing snow is possible during this time, before precipitation comes to an end late Saturday. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service:
Today: A chance of drizzle, mainly after 4 p.m. Increasing clouds, with a high near 39. East wind 9 to 13 mph.
Tonight: Rain. Patchy fog after midnight. Low around 34. East southeast wind 5 to 11 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday: Rain. Areas of fog before 7 a.m. High near 42. East northeast wind 6 to 10 mph becoming south southwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 21 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New precipitation amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.
Saturday Night: Rain and snow likely, mainly before midnight. Cloudy during the early evening, then gradual clearing, with a low around 25. Blustery, with a west northwest wind 11 to 16 mph increasing to 21 to 26 mph in the evening. Winds could gust as high as 38 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 32. West northwest wind 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.
Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 11.
Monday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 30.
Monday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 19.
Tuesday: Partly sunny, with a high near 36.
Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 21.
Wednesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 28.
Wednesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 12.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 25-year-old political consultant and former state legislative aide pleaded guilty to engaging in activities related to child pornography.
Carter Clinton Ballmann-photo Boone Co.
In exchange for Carter Clinton Ballmann’s plea on Thursday, a count of selling or buying children was dropped.
Ballman, of Jefferson City, was arrested April 17 at the Missouri State Capitol as part of a child predator sting by the Boone County Cyber Crimes Task Force.
Prosecutors say Ballmann responded to an online post purporting to be from a 14-year-old girl.
He discussed sex acts he wanted to engage in with the girl. Investigators also uncovered various Columbia Middle School hours and honor rolls during the time Ballman was communicating with the decoy.
Ballmann was a legislative assistant to Rep. Mark Matthiesen, R-Maryland Heights. He was fired after the arrest.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Republican-controlled legislative committee has rejected a Democratic proposalto allow Kansas residents to register to vote on the same day they cast their ballots.
The House Elections Committee’s vote Thursday was 7-5 against the measure. The state’s current registration deadline is three weeks before an election.
Republicans argued Thursday that the change would increase costs for county election offices. They’ve worried in the past about potential voter fraud.
Same-day registration is a longstanding goal of Democrats and voting-rights groups. They see it as a way to boost turnout.
Democratic Rep. Tim Hodge of North Newton said: “Why do want to keep people from voting?”
Republicans control the committee because they have a House majority. GOP Rep. J.C. Moore of Clearwater joined the committee’s four Democrats in supporting the bill.
CHRISTIAN COUNTY — One person died in an accident just after 1:30 a.m. Thursday in Christian County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 1995 Ford Ranger driven by John W. Arnold, 41, Ozark, was northbound on Highway 13 just south of Nixa. The vehicle left the road and struck an embankment.
Arnold was pronounced dead at the scene. He was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the MSHP.
OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A 17-year-old Olathe girl has been charged along with an adult suspect in the death of an Overland Park teenager.
Alan Hicks -photo Johnson Co. Sheriff
The girl was charged as a juvenile with first-degree felony murder in the January death of 17-year-old Ben Workman-Greco, who was fatally shot at his apartment. Prosecutors have filed notice that they will seek to have her tried as an adult.
Prosecutors allege Workman-Greco was killed during a robbery.
Her co-defendant, 21-year-old Alan MIchael Hicks, is charged in Johnson County District Court with first-degree felony murder. He was arrested in Las Vegas last week and booked into the Johnson County jail Wednesday night.
Hicks made his first court appearance Thursday. He’s being held on $1 million bond.
