MANHATTAN- A Kansas man was sentenced on Monday to 100 months in prison for the sexual exploitation of a child.
John Thomas, 48, Leonardville, admitted in a plea deal to the charges, which are level 5 person felonies.
In March, Thomas was taken into custody by the U.S. Marshals service in Chino Valley, Arizona.
The Riley County courtroom on Monday was full with family of Thomas and of the victim’s family.
Thomas told the court “I’ve lost everything, my home, my career, and I hope they can move past this, and I hope someday so can I.”
The victim’s mother told the court, “I believe you deserve a life sentence. I have trusted this man with my little one and the fact that he took advantage of that has caused so much turmoil.”
Her statement started a brief commotion in the court room between the two parties.
Thomas will be required to register as an offender upon release. He will also be required to have post-release supervision for 36 months.
Area leaders were at Fort Riley on Monday meeting with the 1st Infantry Division commanding general Major General Wayne Grigsby Jr.
Ben Bennett, Geary County Commission chairman, was among those in attendance. “Concerns are that he really wants to make the community one working together toward common goals and common concerns. Since this is his first time at it he is wanting to get an idea. ”
Bennett added the leaders talked with the general about their thoughts on that subject. “He’s going to try to do it once a quarter,and meet with this group.”
Grigsby assumed command of the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley earlier this month.
Photo by Dave Ranney Marcy Bilymsky, a suicide prevention worker with the Veterans Administration Eastern Kansas Health Care System, mans an information booth during a system-sponsored mental health summit Friday at the Scottish Rite Center in Topeka.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals in Topeka and Leavenworth met with 932 veterans who said they’d been sexually assaulted while they were in the military.
“That number has tripled in last six years,” said Gary Napier, who runs the hospitals’ Military Sexual Trauma Services program. Much of the increase, he said, appears to be driven by a corresponding increase in public awareness as well as the sexual trauma program’s outreach efforts.
Of the 932 who said they were sexually assaulted, 527 were women, 405 were men. Almost two-thirds of the women and 55 percent of the men received services through the program.
“We’re above the national average,” Napier said. “I think the word is out that this is a good program and that we can be trusted. But, still, I have to say it seems like we’re saving people who are drowning in this rapidly flowing river. I just wish there was some way we could build some kind of bridge that would keep people from falling in.”
Napier led a forum on veterans and sexual assault and domestic violence. The forum was part of a daylong mental health summit hosted by the VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System, which includes the two hospitals, outpatient clinics, residential programs, mental health clinics, and more than a dozen specialized treatment programs.
Other forums at the summit focused on stigma, caregivers’ needs, homelessness, and suicide prevention.
On any given day, the health care system’s suicide prevention program interacts with between 35 to 50 veterans, men and women, who are considered “high risk,” said Marcy Bilymsky, a prevention worker whose duties include calling patients after they are discharged from either of the hospitals.
“The highest risk of suicide for (veterans) is within seven to 30 days of their being discharged,” Bilymsky said. “So as a facility, we call everybody usually within 24 to 48 hours — definitely within a week – to check in with them, to see how they’re doing.”
In recent years, she said, the health system has recorded “two or three suicides” annually.
“So far this year, it’s probably five,” said Bilymsky, who did not have immediate access to the program’s statistics. “The biggest barrier for us is getting veterans to come into the VA,” she said. “We have a whole lot of people who are hesitant because they associate the VA with their military service and because it’s such a big system.
But once we get them past that and they find out that we really do care, they usually come back.” Bilymsky encouraged veterans who are considering harming themselves to call the Veterans Crisis Line: 800-273-8255, ext. 1. “Someone is there 24-7,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas, New Year’s or Thanksgiving, someone — a clinician — is there.” Veterans who’ve experienced sexual trauma, Napier said, are encouraged to call his office: 785-350-3111, ext. 52068. Ken Schortmann, 65, said the VA saved his life.
“I did two tours in Viet Nam in the Marines, and I was in Desert Storm in the Army,” he said. “When I got out, I got two jobs and I just worked, and worked and worked. I didn’t know it, but I was covering up my PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). I got to where I wasn’t sleeping, and I was doing a lot of weird things.”
Eventually, a VA worker recognized Schortmann’s symptoms and encouraged him to see one of the mental health counselors at the Topeka hospital.
“I’m a combat veteran. They saved my life,” he said. “There isn’t any doubt about that.” About 60 people – a mix of VA officials, social service providers, and law enforcement officers — attended the summit. “The goal for today was to reach out to our partners in the community because, many times, we’re serving the same population,” said Stephanie Davis, suicide prevention coordinator for the VA’s eastern Kansas health care system.
“Our veterans aren’t just coming to the VA, they’re out in their communities. And that’s what we want, we want them living them own lives in their communities. This is all about improving the lives of veterans and their families.”
Dave Ranney is a reporter for Heartland Health Monitor, a news collaboration focusing on health issues and their impact in Missouri and Kansas.
According to the National Weather Service of Topeka, a large cluster of showers and thunderstorms is currently tracking eastward into northeast KS this morning. These storms may produce gusty winds up to 55 mph, small hail,and locally heavy rainfall. These storms are not severe and will exit by late this morning. The amount of sunshine that occurs this afternoon may determine how severe additional storms become later this afternoon. A strong cold front is expected to sweep southeast through the region after 2 p.m., exiting east central KS after 8 p.m.. IF storms develop, a few may be severe with damaging wind gusts, large hail, and heavy rainfall. Stay tuned for updates throughout the day!
Early This Morning: Cloudy with a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. South winds 5 to 10 mph with gusts to around 25 mph.
Today: Showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s. Southwest winds 10 to 20 mph. Gusts up to 35 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation 90 percent.
Tonight: Cooler. Mostly cloudy. Chance of rain showers and thunderstorms in the evening…then slight chance of rain showers after midnight. Lows in the mid 50s. Northwest winds 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation 50 percent.
Wednesday: Partly sunny. Highs in the mid 70s. Northwest winds around 10 mph.
Wednesday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the mid 50s. Northwest winds up to 10 mph shifting to the southwest after midnight.
Thursday: Sunny. Highs in the lower 80s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph.
Thursday Night: Mostly clear. Lows in the lower 60s.
Friday: Mostly sunny with slight chance of rain showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s.
Friday Night: Partly cloudy in the evening then becoming mostly cloudy. Slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Lows around 70.
Saturday: Mostly sunny with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs around 90.
Saturday Night: Showers and thunderstorms likely. Lows in the lower 60s. Chance of precipitation 60 percent.
Sunday: Not as warm. Mostly sunny with slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the upper 70s.
RILEY COUNTY- Multiple agencies responded to the Kansas River to search for two missing people on Monday.
The Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office reported in a media release they received a call just after 4:30 a.m. from the Riley County Police Department that two people on a raft may be lost somewhere on the Kansas River
between Manhattan and Wamego.
A concerned relative had called police to report that she was unable to get a hold of family members that had been rafting on the Kansas River earlier.
Authorities say they had left the Linear Trail Park boat ramp area around 4:00 p.m. on Sunday and headed east on the Kansas River.
First responders looked at different locations along the river in an effort to locate the individuals on the raft. Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism Officers put an air-boat in the water at Wamego and headed west.
At about 7:13 a.m. both individuals were found in good condition about 1/2 mile west of St. George.
Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism officers followed them to the St. George boat ramp, where they safely docked and later left the scene.
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A reminder to people recreational boaters/rafters to always be aware of local weather and water conditions, be prepared with items such as cell phones, maps, life-jackets, food and water and any other equipment to ensure a safe and enjoyable time.
Agencies involved in this effort were Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, Wabaunsee County Sheriff’s Office, Manhattan Fire Department water rescue unit, the Riley County Police Department and the Pottawatomie County Sheriff’s Office.
The Geary County Commission passed a proposed 2016 budget for publication Monday that included a 6.651 mill increase to the property tax levy.
Commission Chairman, Ben Bennett confirmed the proposed increase Monday.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t take it down further, we’re all still looking at ways to do that,” said Bennett. “We’ve reduced it from the original ten mills down to a six plus mill levy increase.”
The increase would increase the property tax levy to 67.478 mills.
Bennett added that,”the general fund is up four points, health department is 1.4, the ambulance increase is one and a half mills.”
State funding reductions have been cited as one reason for the increases.
Commissioner Florence Whitebread further explained that they are continuing to look for cuts to the budget, but it’s going to be hard to find a considerable amount.
“We just don’t have different departments that have that big of a budget,” said Whitebread. “It takes $235,000 to even reduce at a mill, so it’s pretty hard to find that in a budget.”
Once the budget has been published it can be reduced, but cannot be increased any farther. The budget will now go to publication and a public hearing will be held Monday, August 31st.
The JC Breakfast Optimist Club will be holding a fundraiser for C.A.S.A. (Court Appointed Special Advocates) at City Cycle Sales on Goldenbelt Boulevard in Junction City Friday, August 21.
The fundraiser will run from 4 pm to 6 pm and burgers, hot dogs and drinks will be available for a donation.
The public is invited out to support Geary County youth and their advocates.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will be hosting the annual Milford Lake clean-up day on Saturday, September 26th in conjunction with National Public lands Day.
The Clean-up will run from 8:30 a.m. 12:00 noon and participants will meet back at North Overlook Park at noon for a hotdog lunch. Volunteers are needed to make this event a success and to help keep the lake and surrounding public lands litter free.
Interested people or groups can call the Corps office at 785-238-5714 to sign up and for more information.
ABILENE – (August 17, 2015) – A Chapman roofing contractor has been prohibited from doing business in Kansas, following a recent lawsuit accusing him of failing to comply with Kansas consumer protection laws, Attorney General Derek Schmidt said today.
Last Friday, Dickinson County District Judge Ryan W. Rosauer entered a temporary restraining order prohibiting Michael Allen Chapin, Chapman, from operating as a roofing contractor in Kansas pending the outcome of a lawsuit filed by the attorney general’s office.
In a petition filed last month, Schmidt accused Chapin of engaging in the business of, or capacity as, a roofing contractor within Kansas without having a valid roofing registration certificate. Chapin had allegedly performed roofing work on a Chapman home and failed to adequately protect the unfinished roof during a rainstorm, causing thousands of dollars in damage.
“When the Legislature enacted the Kansas Roofing Registration Act in 2013, they required roofing contractors to be properly insured before they could be registered with our office,” Schmidt said. “This requirement protects consumers in situations such as this one.”
Schmidt’s office has four other cases pending against unregistered roofers.
Schmidt reminded consumers to make sure roofing contractors are properly registered before signing any contract or having any work done. Consumers should request a copy of their roofer’s registration certificate and then should check the attorney general’s consumer protection website at www.InYourCornerKansas.org to confirm that the registration remains active.
Press Release from the Office of Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
MANHATTAN- A Kansas man was sentenced on Monday to 100 months in prison for the sexual exploitation of a child.
