(Washington Insider Magazine)-KANSAS (Transatlantic Today) – Authorities reported an ex Kansas police officer was detained and charged on Wednesday in connection with a series of sex crimes that allegedly occurred over the course of at least 6 years while he was employed with the Hutchinson Police Department.
According to the Hutchinson Police Department, Todd Allen, 51, of Hutchinson, is charged with 7 counts of aggravated sexual battery, 2 counts of kidnapping, 3 counts of attempted aggravated sexual battery, 2 counts counts of rape, 1 count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, 3 counts counts of rape, 2 counts of sexual battery, and 5 counts of invasions of privacy and eavesdropping.
As of Wednesday, authorities said that Allen was being detained at the Reno County Correctional Facility. If Allen had a lawyer was not immediately clear. He was scheduled to show up in court on Thursday.
Hutchinson Police Department Chief Jeff Hooper stated during a press conference on Wednesday that the majority of the allegations against the former police officer relate to instances that are believed to have occurred between 2012 and 2018.
Hooper called Allen a “predator” and claimed that the former police officer’s arrest cleared at least 17 instances that the department had been looking into.
Hooper stated that he was unable to disclose the number of victims in the cases that were being investigated. He also invited any further possible victims to step forward and issued a warning that there might be more victims.
The police chief stated that there was other information he could not immediately release and that the probe into Allen’s alleged crimes was still underway. He did shed some light on how the police came to believe Allen was involved in the years-long run of crimes, though.
Hooper, who joined the force in 2018, claimed that a sexual assault had been reported at a park in Hutchinson, which is approximately 50 miles northwest of Wichita, not long after he assumed leadership. He claimed his staff informed him that the incident was connected to a string of assaults that had been happening in Hutchinson since 2012.
He claimed that he was also informed that the police force had not yet provided any information about the series of incidents to the general public.
Hooper responded by stating that on November 6, 2018, he held a news conference and provided information on the string of sexual assaults in order to warn the public about potential risks to the neighbourhood and safety measures they could take in the event that they encountered another incident that was comparable.
Following the press conference, the instances seemed to halt, and during the same time, Allen, a patrol officer with the police force for more than 20 years, announced his resignation, according to NBC NEWS.
Hooper reported that the police department had recently begun getting reports concerning stalking and window-peeping. Investigators eventually managed to connect Allen, who was apprehended in association with one of the calls, to the string of offenses that occurred between 2012 and 2018.
Although Hooper claimed that excellent police investigation and follow-up had a role in the discovery, it was not immediately obvious what specifically made the department feel Allen was the suspect in the series of crimes.
Hooper emphasised that the cases of sexual assault had never been given a “cold case status,” noting that they had always been ongoing and assigned to a detective, and that investigation had continued on those cases for the past few years.
He said that since entering the Hutchinson Police Department, he had worked to “completely change” the culture of the department. He also mentioned that some former officers had been fired and others had resigned.
