TOPEKA —Governor Laura Kelly has signed a bill that would prevent judges from lowering sentences for child sex offenders if they think the victims were willing participants in the crime.
Soden -photo Leavenworth Co.
“Judges must interpret and apply the law with common sense and an understanding of the real world, especially in child sex crime cases,” Kelly said. “I was deeply troubled when a Kansas judge viewed a child victim as an aggressor when an adult commits a sex crime. I’m pleased to sign this bill eliminating the ability to reduce sentences for sex crimes in these cases,” Kelly stated in a media release.
The bill signed this week comes after a Leavenworth County judge in February reduced the sentence for 67-year-old Raymond Soden because he thought the 13- and 14-year-old girls involved in the case were “aggressors.”
The bill eliminates the reason for a downward departure in sentencing for sexually violent crimes when the victim is younger than 14 years and the offender is an adult. It also would make that departure factor unavailable when human trafficking victims are involved regardless of their age.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — Authorities are investigating what appears to be a deadly hit-and-run crash in Kansas City.
Officers responded early Sunday to a report about a body lying in a road. Missouri Capt. Tim Hernandez says the victim was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
An emergency room doctor says the victim appeared to have been struck by a vehicle. Hernandez says the traffic investigation unit doesn’t have any witnesses or video to determine what happened, or any suspect information.
KANSAS CITY (AP) — A 67-year-old man accused of stalking several women who worked at massage parlors has been found guilty on eight of 10 federal charges against him.
Gross -photo Jackson Co.
Robert Gross, who has a criminal record dating back to the 1960s, was convicted Wednesday on two of four stalking charges and six gun-related charges.
Federal prosecutors accused Gross of stalking several women between Oct. 1 and Dec. 22, 2017, mostly employees of massage parlors in Lawrence and Johnson County, Kansas. The women told police their cars were keyed, screws drilled into their tires and their windows smashed out.
The jury was shown a video of Gross abusing a Lawrence massage parlor worker. Charges are pending in that case.
Gross’ attorney presented no evidence during the trial.
Gross was arrested in December 2017 after buying two guns in Liberty, Missouri.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Missouri man was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for traveling to North Carolina on five occasions to engage in illicit sexual activity with a child victim over a two-year period, according to the United State’s Attorney.
Guthrie photo Cole Co.
James Anthony Guthrie, III, 37, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 15 years in federal prison without parole.
On Nov. 27, 2018, Guthrie pleaded guilty to one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. Guthrie admitted that he traveled to North Carolina on five occasions for work and, while there, met the then-15-year-old child victim at various hotels for sex. Guthrie admitted that he picked up the child victim from school or at her house; once, the victim’s father brought her to the hotel.
According to court documents, Guthrie met the child victim online when she was 14 years old. Guthrie engaged in sexual communications with her and groomed her by sending gifts, including jewelry, a cellular telephone, food delivery, a life-size teddy bear, shopping trips and nights in a hotel room. Guthrie manipulated the child victim and exploited the fact that others had abused her.
Guthrie also admitted that he communicated about sexual matters with the child victim and received pornographic images and videos from her. Investigators examined Guthrie’s laptop, hard drive and DVD-R disks, which contained images of child pornography. Guthrie admitted to communicating with other individuals he believed to be minors in a sexual manner, and to receiving self-produced pornographic images from 13-to-14-year-old children.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Lebanon, Mo., Police Department and the Lake Area ICAC Task Force.
STONE COUNTY, Mo — One person died in an accident just before 10:30a.m. Wednesday in Stone County.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2006 Toyota Tundra driven by Gideon M. Dunn, 37, Branson, was eastbound on Mo. 76 two miles west of Branson. The pickup rear-ended a 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan driven by Carlos G. Garate, 41, Emporia that had slowed to make a turn.
A passenger in the van 13-year-old Ace Garate was transported to Cox Hospital in Branson where he died.
EMS also transported Carlos Garate and three other passengers from the van including Alina B. Garate, 64, Amy Garate, 37 and Mercedes Garate, 64, all of Emporia to Cox Hospital in Branson for treatment of minor injuries.
Dunn and Ace Garate were not wearing seat belts, according to the MSHP.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Undergraduate students at all University of Missouri System schools will face a 5 percent increase in tuition for the next academic year.
The UM System Board of Curators on Wednesday approved the increase, which ranges between $14.20 and $17.30 per credit hour. Only nonresident students at Missouri Science and Technology will not pay higher tuition.
Average resident tuition and fees in the system was $7,980 a semester in fall 2018.
The increase is actually 5.6 percent but 0.6 percent will be waived if state funding remains at or above the funding received in fiscal year 2019.
If the waiver is applied, undergraduate Missouri residents would pay $8,544 per academic year and $284.80 per credit hour.
For non-residents, the waiver would bring tuition to $25,707 per academic year and $856.90 per credit hour.
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri private investigator who told authorities he fatally a shot a man two years ago in self-defense has been sentenced to two years in federal prison on a firearms charge but won’t be charged with murder.
Gurley photo Boone Co.
54-year-old Ricky Gurley was sentenced Tuesday for being a felon in possession of the gun he used to shoot Cameron Caruthers at Gurley’s home in Columbia. Federal prosecutors said Gurley was barred from possessing the weapon because of a 1997 conviction for felonious restraint and being an unlicensed bail runner in Martin County, North Carolina.
After the sentencing, the Boone County prosecutor announced that Gurley wouldn’t be charged in Caruthers’ death. A wrongful death lawsuit is pending against Gurley and his business, Risk Management Investigations.
MANHATTAN – An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has found that Belfor Property Restoration and subcontractor Custom Crushing & Company – both based in Kansas City, Missouri – failed to comply with OSHA’s asbestos removal standards while performing rehabilitation work at Kansas State University’s Hale Library in Manhattan.
A construction worker on an aerial lift installs insulation in one of two future seminar rooms on the south side of Hale Library’s first floor-photo courtesy K-State Libraries
According to a media release from the U.S. Department of Labor, Custom Crushing & Company faces $193,596 in proposed penalties, and Belfor Property Restoration faces proposed penalties totaling $39,780.
Custom Crushing & Company was cited for 23 serious health violations including exposing employees to asbestos, failing to provide respiratory protection, and personal protective clothing, develop a written hazard communication program, train workers on asbestos hazards, properly dispose of material and waste containing asbestos, and conduct medical surveillance for employees exposed to health hazards.
OSHA cited Belfor Property Restoration for three serious violations after determining asbestos abatement on the project did not comply with OSHA standards. Inspectors also determined that the company failed to inform the building’s owner and other employees of the location and quantity of presumed asbestos-containing material.
“Asbestos is a well-known health hazard that can cause lung cancer, mesothelioma, and other life-threatening illnesses,” said OSHA Wichita Area Director Ryan Hodge. “Employers working in the restoration industry are required to remediate asbestos hazards to ensure workers are adequately protected.”
Both companies have 15 business days from receipt of the citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA’s area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. See citations issued to Custom Crushing here and Belfor here.
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to help ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas community college has agreed to an independent investigation into the heatstroke death last year of a football player who collapsed after the first day of conditioning practice.
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Bradforth and his mother after his graduation from Neptune High School -courtesy Joanne Atkins-Ingram
rustees for Garden City Community College voted Tuesday evening to authorize the outside probe into the death of 19-year-old Braeden Bradforth of Neptune, New Jersey. The move came after the college faced mounting pressure, including calls by New Jersey’s U.S. House delegation for an investigation.
Bradforth was found unconscious outside his dorm room on Aug. 1 after practice. He died later that night at a hospital.
His mother, Joanne Atkins-Ingram, said Wednesday that she’s hoping the investigation will finally let her know her son’s last moments. She said she hopes investigators find out what went wrong and how to correct it.
Kansas senators met Tuesday to formally vote down Gov. Laura Kelly’s nomination for a Court of Appeals seat. In a strange twist, even Kelly wanted her nominee rejected.
Senate President Susan Wagle, center, talks with Sens. Jeff Longbine, left, and Ed Berger as the chamber rejected Gov. Laura Kelly’s nominee for an appellate court. STEPHEN KORANDA / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
The outcome was already known before lawmakers returned to Topeka for the single vote.
Kelly had tried to withdraw the nomination of District Court Judge Jeffry Jack after a series of a politically charged tweets came to light, but a Kansas Supreme Court ruling said that, instead, the Senate would have to vote down the choice. Then, Kelly could make official her new pick, Lenexa attorney Sarah Warner.
There’s a partisan divide between the Democratic governor and Senate Republican leaders. The GOP didn’t miss a chance to point out Kelly’s misstep and the fact that the chamber had to convene a special meeting just to vote down the nominee.
Republican Sen. Dan Goddard said lawmakers wouldn’t have needed the special meeting if the governor’s administration had more thoroughly vetted Jack.
“I am totally frustrated with a nomination and confirmation process that can be characterized as a cluster gaggle,” Goddard said.
The tweets from Jack included profanity, calls for gun control and insults aimed at President Donald Trump.
“A president who is objectively ignorant, lazy and cowardly,” read one tweet, which has since been deleted.
Kelly created a panel to screen the applicants for the court seat, and she said that group missed the tweets. It gave her a slate of three choices and Kelly initially picked Jack.
“I don’t feel like I made that mistake,” Kelly said last week. “Was that mistake made? Yes.”
The special meeting of the Senate will cost taxpayers between $16,000 and $17,000, said Legislative Administrative Services Director Thomas Day. That cost covers lawmaker wages, lawmaker expenses and pay for the staff.
Senate President Susan Wagle previously said “incompetence” in Kelly’s administration led to the problem. The Republican lawmaker was frustrated at the use of taxpayer dollars for the special Senate session and said senators will be keeping a close eye on Kelly’s future nominees.
“Most senators are very aware now that we need to thoroughly vet every candidate, ask them questions and make sure we aren’t putting a partisan hack on the bench,” Wagle said after the vote.
The chamber rejected Jack’s nomination on a 38-0 vote. The Democratic leader of the Senate, Anthony Hensley, said Kelly hadn’t vetted Jack well enough. But he gave her credit for trying to withdraw the nomination when the tweets became public.
“Too often in politics today, leaders do not admit mistakes have been made,” Hensley said on the Senate floor.
It’s not the last word on Jack’s tweets. Republican Sen. Richard Wilborn unveiled a letter Tuesday asking the Commission on Judicial Conduct to review Jack’s actions.
Wilborn stopped short of saying Jack should be removed from the bench. He said the commission will have to decide that, but Wilborn called the tweets “horrible.”
“I believe Judge Jack’s actions,” the letter reads, “impugn the dignity of his office and call into question his ability to serve as a judge in our Kansas court system.”
Jack previously said that as a citizen he has a right to call out comments by people in power, such as the president. He apologized to Kelly and said he didn’t intend for the tweets to be public.
“I am not sorry for believing that violence is bad, that discrimination is bad, that misogyny is bad or that hypocrisy is bad,” Jack said, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
It’s not unheard of for a political appointee to withdraw because screening missed something. Then-Gov. Sam Brownback’s choice for the state’s top tech job withdrew in 2011 because one of his degrees was from a so-called “diploma mill.” That job didn’t need Senate confirmation, so replacing the choice was easier for Brownback.
This situation is different, though, because the process dragged on through a court fight and then the special Senate meeting needed to reject Kelly’s nominee.
The whole process has created a stage for political rivalries, according to Emporia State University Political Scientist Michael Smith. Smith said the dust-up has been a chance for GOP lawmakers to show they’re holding Kelly’s feet to the fire.
“It’s working on the Republican base,” Smith said. “It’s working on the next Republican primary election.”
