A 20-year-old Hutchinson who was arrested back on April 4, for two counts of electronic solicitation will face additional charges.
Matthew O’Keefe was scheduled for a status hearing and the reading of formal charges, but Magistrate Judge Randy McEwen had not yet received the complaint even though the state has filed it. So he rescheduled the appearance for Friday and the complaint apparently involves three additional charges, although Assistant District Attorney Andrew Davidson didn’t specify what those charges will be. We were told that at least one of the charges is attempted aggravated indecent liberties.
O’Keefe is alleged to have made contact online with a 13-year-old girl back in March and solicited a sexual encounter.
Hutchinson Police Detective Scott Carlton says he then made contact with O’Keefe on Facebook as a 15-year-old girl and began chatting with him and they decided to meet last Friday at Rice Park, on the city’s west side. O’Keefe showed up thinking he was going to meet the 15-year-old girl, but met police instead.
His initial contact was with a 13-year-old, so that count could fall under Jessica’s Law, meaning he could be looking at a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25-years, if convicted.
Again, he’s expected to now make an appearance for the formal reading of charges on Friday.