KANSAS CITY, KAN.– A registered Kansas sex offender was sentenced this week to 10 years in federal prison for possessing child pornography, according to U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister.

In addition, the defendant was ordered to pay $5,000 to the fund established by the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act.

Benjamin Grace, 32, Lawrence, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of child pornography. In his plea, he admitted he was identified during an FBI investigation of a service on the internet that was involved in the production, advertisement and distribution of child pornography.

After executing a search warrant at his home in Lawrence, FBI agents interviewed him at his workplace in Overland Park. He admitted viewing child pornography, including images of children as young as five years old.

At the time, Grace was listed on a Kansas Bureau of Investigation web site because of a 2008 felony conviction in Johnson County on a charge of electronic sexual solicitation of a child.

FINNEY COUNTY— One person was injured in an accident just before 6p.m. Friday in Finney County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2020 Peterbilt semi driven by Robert J. Baldridge, 55, Holcomb, was northbound on Business 83 just north of U.S. 83.

Emilio Corrales, 11, Garden City, was  southbound on a bicycle on the walkway portion of the bridge off the east edge of the roadway. Witnesses observed the bicycle drive off the bike path, causing it and the boy to fall out into the northbound lane of Business 83 right in front of the semi.

The passenger side of the semi struck both the bike and the boy. The semi came to an abrupt stop to render aid the boy.

EMS transported Corrales to Wesley Medical Center.  Baldridge was not injured and had been wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a Kansas teen after a incident involving a gun.

Just after 4p.m.Thursday, police responded to a disturbance with a weapon call at Woodman Elementary in the 2500 block of South Hiram in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson. An employee reported that teens were on scene and that they possibly had guns.

The investigation revealed there was a verbal disturbance between a group of five boys and a group of six girls known to each other, who were walking from Truesdell Middle School to Woodman Elementary School.

During the disturbance, a 14-year-old boy pointed a handgun at the girls, according to Davidson.

No shots were fired and no one was injured. The 14-year-old was arrested on scene and recovered the gun. Woodman Elementary was briefly placed on lockdown.

USD 259 spokeswoman Susan Arensman said the incident happened in a neighborhood south of Woodman Elementary school and not on the school’s property.

The boy is being held in juvenile detention on requested charges that include six counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, criminal possession of a firearm by a juvenile and unlawful use of a weapon.

BARTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities  in Barton County developed information of drug trafficking at a home in Great Bend and made two arrests.

Just before 11a.m. Thursday, detectives executed a search warrant developed at a residence at 1445 Park Street in Great Bend, according to Sheriff Brian Bellendir.

They discovered drugs and paraphernalia and arrested Eligus R. Ricketts, 34 of Salina.

He was booked on requested charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia and interference with law enforcement officer. Ricketts was found hiding in a closet at the time of his arrest. Ricketts also had an outstanding warrant from Saline County. The Saline County warrant was a no bond warrant, the charges in Barton County carry a $100,000 bond, according to Bellendir.

He has nine previous convictions that include criminal possession of a firearm, aggravated escape from custody, aggravated assault, fee and attempt to elude law enforcement and for drugs, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Deputies also came in contact with Howard L. Johnson age 23 of Great Bend Johnson was taken into custody on three outstanding warrants for parole violation. The bond on Johnson’s warrants range from $1500-$5000.

 

KANSAS CITY  (AP) — Relatives are outraged after a 17-year-old was killed outside a Kansas City home and his 7-year-old sister shot six times as she played nearby.

Police suspect that another teen opened fire Wednesday night after an argument, killing Zavien Hall and wounding his sister, Jazmine Hall. She is hospitalized in stable condition. No other suspect description has been offered and no arrests have been made.

The siblings’ great-grandmother, Jannie Hall, asked what Zavien could have done that was “so bad.” She also expressed outrage that Jazmine had been wounded, saying, “Son, what was wrong with you?”

Zavien’s great-grandfather, Emanuel Hall, says there is “no explanation as to why this would have happened.” Zavien’s family described the teen as a jokester, playful but extremely respectful.

SALINE COUNTY — A former employee of Saint Francis Ministries in Salina is facing 11 charges including rape, sexual exploitation of a child and indecent liberties with a child.

Saline County District Court records show Nathaniel McEachin worked for Saint Francis Ministries from December 2018 to May 2019, when he was fired.

Morgan Rothenberger, spokesman for Saint Francis Ministries, says the organization notified authorities when suspicions were raised about McEachin.

McEachin worked at the Youth Residential Center II in Salina.

The victims were four girls — ages 14 through 17 — and the alleged crimes occurred between May 30, 2018, and May 5, 2019, according to police.

Saint Francis has been a contractor for Kansas Department for Children and Families since 1986. It provides foster care, family preservation, reunification, adoption and child placement services

-The AP contributed to this report.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a case of shoplifting that also sent to officers to the hospital after they rescued a drowning suspect.

Just after 9:30p.m.Thursday, police responded to report of a suspicious character call at Kohls in the 6900 Block of West Kellogg in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

Police were told a group of individuals had shoplifted at the east Wichita Kohls, had arrived at the west location and were about to walk out of the store with $1,000 in clothing and other merchandise, according to Davidson.

As a male suspect and a 16-year-old were exiting the store with the merchandise, the store’s Loss Prevention staff confronted them. The two suspects dropped the merchandise and ran.

Loss Prevention staff identified for arriving officers the 16-year-old girl running through the parking lot. As officers attempted to contact her, she jumped into a nearby retention pond. The suspect swam to the middle of the pond and stated she could not swim. She swam to a shallow area and then made a second attempt to swim across the pond. She disappeared under the water, according to Davidson.

Two Wichita Police officers jumped in the pond and located the suspect and brought her to the surface. She was not breathing and unresponsive. The officers brought her to the shore where a third officer began CPR until Sedgwick County EMS arrived.

The girl was revived and taken to an area hospital where she remains hospitalized in critical condition, according to Davidson.

Due to bacteria in the pond, the two officers became violently ill and were taken to an area hospital, treated and released.

The two other larceny suspects fled the scene, according to Davidson.

SALINE COUNTY  —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect after a domestic violence dispute.

Just after 3p.m. Thursday, police responded to a residence in a trailer park at 1200 W. Crawford in Salina after a report of domestic violence., according to Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester.

A 22-year-old Salina woman was in the back of a 2011 Toyota pickup and and in an argument with Zachary Gonzales, 34, of Salina.

As she attempted to unload some items belonging to her, Gonzales drove the pickup off at a high rate of speed on the trailer park’s street, which is nearly a quarter-mile loop, according to Forrester.

A man who lives in the trailer park heard the woman screaming for Gonzales to stop and stepped out into the street to try to stop the vehicle.

The pickup struck the 41-year-old Salina man. A dent in the front of the pickup was consistent with the man’s story, according to Forrester.

Gonzales stopped and the woman was able to get out of the truck when her mother came to help, Forrester said.

Police arrested Gonzales on  requested charges of Kidnapping, Aggravated battery, Domestic aggravated assault. The 41-year-old man refused medical treatment, according to Forrester.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a pair of early morning shooting incidents and looking for suspects .

Just before 2a.m. police were dispatched to a report of shots fired in the area of 3136 SE Irvingham in Topeka, according to Lt. Manuel Munoz.

While officers were in route, dispatch received information of a possible victim at the  address. Officers located a man who was suffering from non-life threatening injuries. He was transported to a local hospital. Police brought several witnesses to the Law Enforcement Center to be interviewed. No arrests have been made.

Just after 4a.m., police were dispatched to 935 SW Watson in Topeka on a report of a shooting, according to Munoz. Upon arrival, officers located a man suffering from non-life threatening gunshot wounds. The victim refused to cooperate with detectives.

 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Billionaire industrialist David H. Koch, who with his older brother, Charles, transformed American politics by pouring their riches into conservative causes, has died at age 79.

Charles Koch announced the death on Friday, saying, “It is with a heavy heart that I now must inform you of David’s death.”

David Koch, who lived in New York City, was the Libertarian Party’s vice presidential candidate in 1980. He was a generous donor to conservative political causes as well as educational, medical and cultural groups.

The Koch brothers were best known for a vast political network they built that became popularly known as the “Kochtopus” for its far-reaching tentacles in support of conservative causes. The brothers founded the anti-tax, small government group Americans for Prosperity.

“I was taught from a young age that involvement in the public discourse is a civic duty,” David Koch wrote in a 2012 op-ed in the New York Post. “Each of us has a right— indeed, a responsibility, at times — to make his or her views known to the larger community in order to better form it as a whole. While we may not always get what we want, the exchange of ideas betters the nation in the process.”

After battling prostate cancer for 20 years, he told a reporter following the 2012 Republican convention that he was thinking about what he will someday leave behind.

“I like to engage where my part makes a difference,” he told The Weekly Standard. “I have a point of view. When I pass on, I want people to say he did a lot of good things, he made a real difference, he saved a lot of lives in cancer research.”

David Koch donated $100 million in 2007 to create the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also gave millions to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, the M.D. Anderson Cancer in Houston, and other institutions.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History named in his honor a wing dedicated to the story of human evolution over 6 million years. David Koch donated $15 million to fund the 15,000 square-foot hall.

“The program has the power to influence the way we view our identity as humans, not only today, but for generations to come,” he said in a statement at the time.

David Koch, an engineer trained at MIT, joined Koch Industries in 1970, and served on its board. He also served as chief executive officer of Koch Chemical Technology Group, LLC, a Koch subsidiary. He retired from the company in 2018

Charles and David Koch, each with an estimated net worth of $50.5 billion, tied in fourth place in 2012 on Forbes 500 list of the nation’s richest men.

Two of the Koch brothers, Frederick and Bill Koch, sued the other two, claiming in a 1998 trial that they were cheated out of more than $1 billion when they sold their stake in Koch Industries back in 1983. David and Bill Koch are twins.

The dispute stemmed from a falling out three years earlier when Bill Koch criticized Charles’ management of the company, and with Frederick’s support, tried to gain control of the company’s board of directors. After the takeover move failed, the board fired Bill as an executive. Bill and Frederick Koch and other dissident stockholders sold their interests, and the brothers later sued claiming the company withheld crucial information that would have led to a higher sale price.

Bill and Frederick lost their case, but the lengthy public trial offered a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse at the Koch family.

The Kochs’ father, Fred Koch, guessed early — before two of his boys were out of diapers and before two were even born — that wealth might split his family apart.

“It will be yours to do with what you will,” the father wrote in a 1936 letter to his two oldest sons. “It may be either a blessing or a curse.”

David Koch and his wife, Julia Flesher, have three children.