Wichita man formally charged in Reno County on child sex charges
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 19-year-old Wichita man was back in Reno County District Court on a charges associated with his contact and sexual acts with a 12-year-old girl.
Samuel Peterson is free on a $50,000 dollar bond and is charged with now a single count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, a level three person felony with a sentencing range of between four and half years to more then twenty years, depending on his criminal history. Its believed he has no history, so he could see some form of probation.
Peterson appeared with his Wichita attorney where the formal charge was read by retired Judge William “Buck” Lyle.
Peterson apparently made contact with the victim through the internet and then met up with her east of Hutchinson back on September 2, where the alleged sexual encounter occurred. She apparently made a report leading to the investigation by the Reno County Sheriff’s Office and Peterson eventually being arrested.
Last week, Magistrate Judge Randy McEwen ordered no contact with the victim in the case and that he wasn’t even allowed to come to Reno County except for court appearances.
His case will now be placed on a future waiver-status docket.
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Couple busted in drug distribution cases taken to jail with bonds increased
A 31-year-old Hutchinson man and 37-year-old Hutchinson woman were both taken back to jail Wednesday afternoon while appearing in front of Judge Joe McCarville. Brian Butler and Jennifer Ramsey were in court for a hearing on an arrest made back in May for drug distribution charges.
The two were both in court Wednesday morning for the reading of formal charges also involving the alleged distribution of drugs. Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton requested the increase in bonds because they were free on bond from the case in May when they were arrested back on September 10, for having as much as 345 grams of methamphetamine. The two defense attorney’s argued against any increase in bond, but Judge McCarville agreed to the increase and both were taken to jail.
The latest arrest of the two came after the Reno County Drug Unit served a search warrant at a home where the two lived. Officers say they found a black Nike bag that contained a large plastic bag of a crystal substance. It weighed 345 grams and field tested positive for methamphetamine. Also in the bag was loaded Smith & Wesson handgun, a small amount of suspected marijuana weighing about four grams. Also in the bedroom was nine methadone pills, a small bag of mushrooms, a glass pipe with burnt residue, new and used packaging materials, digital scales with residue and around $1,600 in cash. His home is within a thousand feet of Reno County Early Head Start. Both face drug distribution charges within a thousand feet of a school in this case.
The other case goes back to May 27, when they were arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell, possession of drug paraphernalia with intent to distribute and no tax stamp. Ramsey was also charged with possession of marijuana and personal use drug paraphernalia. Butler faces additional charges of possession of stolen property, driving while suspended, an alleged habitual violator. The complaint indicates they may have been attempting to distribute at least 100-grams of methamphetamine, but less the 1-kilogram.
The arrest of the two came during a traffic stop in the 100 block of North Plum in the middle of the afternoon.
Ramsey also has two other cases pending, one for making false information and the other for possession of methamphetamine.
The cases against the two are all now scheduled for a preliminary hearing on October 15.
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James Bloom civil case scheduled for hearing Thursday
After Judge Trish Rose took under advisement any relief for a former sheriff and law enforcement instructor convicted in a child sex case nearly a year ago, its scheduled for hearing again Thursday.
James Ryan Bloom was convicted on several felonies and sentenced to 27-and-half years in prison in a child sex case. He is seeking relief claiming ineffective counsel during plea negotiations. His attorney at the time, Sarah Sweet McKinnon had earlier testified over the various plea offers made by the state between June and October of 2006. She told the court that in each instance, he turned down the offers, although she couldn’t recall why in each case. Also on the stand was his other attorney, Kiehl Rathbun.
Bloom doesn’t believe the two attorney’s gave him all the information of what was going on. The offers were apparently made using e-mail during that year, some changing the charges if he would enter a plea. He says he never even saw any of the e-mails till last year when his current attorney showed them to him. He also claims that he wasn’t told of the possible sentence, however the state pointed out that the judge who read the formal complaint to him mentioned the possible penalties.
He was found guilty of one count of rape, six counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct. The victim in the case was a 12-year-old girl. The crimes occurring while he was instructor at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center near Yoder and happened over a period of time in 2006. He’s not eligible for parole until the year 2029.
In addition to being an instructor at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, he also served as the sheriff in Trego County prior to that.
He is back in the Reno County Jail.