• May 27, 2013
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Amy Renee Leiker

Authorities say it’s still unclear whether charges will be filed against a teen who discarded her newborn in the trash earlier this year.

Wichita Police Lt. Randy Reynolds said the case remains under investigation, more than four months after the infant girl’s body was found by officers Jan. 16 in a dumpster at Eastgate Shopping Center, 8125 E. Kellogg.

Whether the full-term, 6-pound, 10-ounce girl was born alive and what caused her death could not be determined by the coroner, according to an autopsy report filed late last month in Sedgwick County District Court. The examination “revealed no evidence of trauma or natural disease” and no conclusive sign the infant had drawn a breath.

The teen told authorities the infant was stillborn, police said in January.

Reynolds said the agency is awaiting analysis of “additional pieces of information” before presenting the case to District Attorney Marc Bennett’s office. He would not discuss what the information was but said the agency hoped to turn the facts of the case over to prosecutors, who will decide whether to file charges, sometime during the next few weeks. Authorities continue to investigate the case as a “suspicious death,” he said.

Speaking broadly of death investigations, Reynolds said a coroner’s report is “just a piece of the pie” used to present a case to the district attorney’s office for review and possible charging — “but it’s not the end all.”

“We have cases that are undetermined in the cause (of death) and we develop additional information” and file charges later, he said.

Police in January discovered the baby’s body after her mother, a 17-year-old, was taken to Wesley Medical Center with severe hemorrhaging. After being questioned by hospital staff, the teen revealed she had given birth six days earlier at her south Wichita home and placed the baby in a trash bag. The bag was then thrown in the mall dumpster by a family member who didn’t know of its contents, police have said.

A plastic bag holding a placenta accompanied the infant’s body to the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center, where autopsies are performed, according to the coroner’s report. A light blue, twin-sized blanket spotted with small yellow stains on one side arrived later, tucked in a brown paper bag.

Police have said they think the teen’s parents were unaware of the pregnancy. Police also think her boyfriend, then 18, is the infant’s father.

The teen is not being named by The Eagle because charges have not been filed.

Local criminal defense lawyer Dan Monnat said while it’s possible charges could be filed against the teen mother or others, “any would suffer from the autopsy’s failure to determine whether the infant was born alive.”

“When you have an autopsy report that comes back that fails to attribute the death to criminal means, it’s kind of hard to charge anyone with any kind of homicide crime,” said Monnat, who practices throughout the Midwest.

“The death of a baby or child is always a shocking a tragic event and it’s natural to want to point fingers and assign blame. But babies and children are fragile and might just as easily be the victims of freak accidents as intentional wrongdoing.”

See full article at Kansas.com

The Wichita Eagle – By Amy Renee Leiker

  • May 06, 2013
  • KAKE News
  • -
  • by Jared Cerullo

It’s been nearly four months since the arrest of a former Wichita Police Sergeant accused of child sex crimes, but there has yet to be a case filed against him.

It was big news back in January when Alex Robinson was arrested. First, he has been a career law enforcement officer, retiring as a Sergeant on the Wichita Police force in 2006. He then took a job as a security supervisor with Wichita Public Schools, a position he remains on paid leave from.

Detectives were called in over a holiday weekend to begin investigating, after a 24 year-old man said he had been abused by Robinson 12 years ago.

At his downtown Wichita law office, criminal defense attorney Dan Monnat said a number of things are likely hindering the case.

“The accusation was not made until almost 12 years after it supposedly happened,” Monnat said. “That will seriously hinder law enforcement officers in tracking down and interviewing other possible witnesses to the alleged event.”

Monnat also says it’s not uncommon for months to go by in cases like this before charges are filed.

“Memories fade, particularly with children,” Monnat said. “And now we’re trying to interview adults who may have witnessed things, or not witnessed things, 10-12 years ago when they were much younger children.”

Robinson was a board member with the mentoring group “Real Men, Real Heroes,” a position he was relieved of when the accusation surfaced.

After the allegations, Robinson was arrested and booked into jail for two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy and four counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. He bonded out and currently remains free pending this investigation.

The Wichita Police Department and Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office declined to comment for this story, saying it’s an open investigation.

See video at KAKE

KAKE News – by Jared Cerullo

  • Apr 25, 2013
  • KAKE News

A member of Wichita State’s Final Four team is being investigated for a sexual assault that allegedly occurred over the weekend.

According to the Wichita Police Department, officers are investigating a sexual assault that involves a now-former basketball player. The alleged crime reportedly happened off-campus at a current player’s home sometime between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Police said others were at the home at the time, but that no other players, current or former, are under investigation.

The alleged victim is a 20-year-old woman, but she is not a Wichita State student. A police report states the 20-year-old woke up while the assault was happening. She went to a hospital where lab tests were conducted.

No arrests have been made.

Wichita State Athletic Director Eric Sexton released the following statement;

“Wichita State University has been informed of the police investigation. We are mindful and respectful of all parties involved. Wichita State University and the Athletic Department take this situation very seriously, and are cooperating with the Wichita Police Department. At this time it is important to let the investigative process take its course.”

“The University will have no further comment regarding this matter at this time.”

See video at KAKE

KAKE News

  • Apr 09, 2013
  • by Hurst Laviana

Former Garden Plain football coach Todd Puetz, who was facing a possible sentence of five years in prison for electronic solicitation of a minor, has avoided jail time by reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Puetz pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of patronizing a prostitute and was given a 30-day suspended sentence by District Judge Ben Burgess. Puetz was not required to appear in court when Burgess signed the agreement on Friday.

Puetz was one of seven men arrested in October 2011 during a Wichita police sting that targeted men willing to pay to have sex with underage girls.

A Sedgwick County jury found Puetz not guilty in April of attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child and attempted criminal sodomy. But the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the third and most serious count: electronic solicitation of a child under 16. Puetz faced a possible sentence of 55 to 61 months in prison on that charge.

During the trial, the jury heard recordings of several calls Puetz made to a phone being answered by an undercover police detective posing as a 15-year-old prostitute. Puetz testified that he innocently called the number looking for a massage after seeing an ad that the detective had placed on the backpage.com Internet website.

Burgess, the trial judge, declared a mistrial on the third count, and the case was placed back on the jury trial docket. The retrial was scheduled to begin June 24.

When asked why the agreement was reached, District Attorney Marc Bennett issued a statement through a spokesman that said, “After a lengthy discussion with law enforcement and careful consideration, the parties arrived at this appropriate resolution.”

Defense lawyer Dan Monnat said he was limited in what he could say about the case.

“After a great deal of consideration, all parties agree this is an appropriate resolution,” he said. “We are grateful to the Sedgwick County district attorney and the jury for permitting this resolution of the case.”

Of the seven men charged in the sting operation, it appears that only one will face prison time. The case against one of the seven was dismissed by prosecutors and another suspect was found not guilty by a jury. Puetz and three other defendants accepted plea agreements that allowed them to plead guilty to misdemeanor charges and avoid prison time. The seventh defendant pleaded guilty to a felony and is awaiting sentencing. That final plea agreement also involved an unrelated case that accused the defendant of soliciting sex from a child under 14 through an Internet chat room.

By Hurst Laviana

  • Apr 09, 2013
  • KWCH TV
  • -
  • by Roger Cornish & Michael Schwanke

A Sedgwick County jury has found a former high school football coach not guilty on two of the three counts against him.

The jury says it is at an impasse on a third count.

The jury found Todd Puetz not guilty on charges of attempted aggravated indecent liberties and attempted criminal sodomy.

The jury could not reach a decision on a charge of electronic solicitation.

Puetz was accused of soliciting sex from an undercover detective posing as a 15 year old girl.

“The greatest gift that we can give each other as human beings is understanding.  Todd Puetz and his family are very grateful to these courageous jurors for their understanding,” says his attorney Dan Monnat with Monnat and Spurrier.

Puetz was the football coach at Garden Plain High School.

The jury began deliberations Friday.

The prosecution can still decide to retry him on the charge of electronic solicitation on which the jury could not decide.

See video at KWCH

KWCH TV – By Roger Cornish & Michael Schwanke

  • Apr 09, 2013
  • The Wichita Eagle
  • -
  • by Hurst Laviana

A Sedgwick County jury acquitted former Garden Plain football coach Todd Puetz of two felony charges Monday but was unable to reach a verdict on the third and most serious count.

After for than a full day of deliberations, the jury found Puetz not guilty of attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child and attempted criminal sodomy. The jury said it was deadlocked on a charge of electronic solicitation of a child.

If retried and convicted on the solicitation charge, Puetz would face a sentence of 55 to 61 months in prison. He would have qualified for probation had he been convicted of either of the other two charges.

Lawyers on both sides were reluctant to discuss the case because on of the charges is still pending. A dozen of Puetz’s relatives attended the trial, and one or two of them cried quietly after the jury’s decision was announced.

The charges grew out of an undercover police sting operation in October 2011 that targeted men willing to pay for sex with underage girls.

During the trial, the jury heard recordings of several calls Puetz made to a phone being answered by an undercover police detective posing as a 15-year-old prostitute. Puetz testified that he innocently called the number looking for a massage after seeing an ad that the detective had placed on the backpage.com Internet website.

During the 3 ½ days of testimony last week, the jury heard a prosecution case that was based largely on the testimony of Detective Jennifer Wright, the detective who posed as the girl. Although the ad carried a note that said the poster was 18, Wright said she told Puetz in the first call that she was 15.

Over a two hour period on the night of Oct. 22, 2011, the jury was told, Puetz and Wright exchanged nine calls or voice mail messages before Puetz arrived at a pink house in the 15100 block of West Kellogg where police were conducting the sting.

Puetz testified that he innocently called the number after finding it on backpage.com while looking for a place to get a massage. He testified that he had no intention of having sex with underage girl. Less than an hour before his arrest, he testified, he had sex with an adult woman who also had advertised her services on the backpage.com website.

The defense called nearly a dozen character witnesses who said Puetz’s character was beyond reproach and that he had never showed any unhealthy interest in underage girls.

Shortly before reaching its verdict, the jury asked for a read-back of testimony Wright gave about the third of the nine telephone exchanges between Wright and Puetz. In that call, Wright called Puetz as she tried to give him directions to the house where he was eventually arrested.

District Judge Ben Burgess gave the jurors an entrapment instruction that said they should find the defendant not guilty if he was induced by police to commit a crime he had no predisposition of committing. Entrapment is not a defense, the instruction said, in a case where a defendant was predisposed to committing a crime and police only offered him an opportunity to do so.

Read Article at Kansas.com

The Wichita Eagle  – By Hurst Laviana


  • Apr 08, 2013
  • Monnat & Spurrier

An article by Dan Monnat and Paige Nichols has been cited in a new opinion by the Kansas Supreme Court.

Justice Lee A. Johnson, writing for the Court in State of Kansas v. Lawson, referred to Monnat and Nichols’ work in The Loneliness of the Kansas Constitution, published in September 2010 by the Journal of the Kansas Association for Justice, while discussing the Kansas Supreme Court’s authority to construe the Kansas constitution as more protective of individual rights than the federal constitution.

“I am pleased and honored that our article appears to have assisted the Court in its consideration of this important constitutional issue, and hope that our work will continue to be useful to the Court in the future,” said Monnat.

  • Apr 08, 2013
  • KSNW TV

WICHITA, Kansas — A Sedgwick County jury acquitted a former Garden Plain football coach of two charges involving sex with children but could not reach a verdict on a third count.

The jury on Monday found Todd Puetz not guilty of attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child and attempted criminal sodomy. The jury deadlocked on a charge of electronic solicitation of a child.

Puetz was one of seven men arrested after a police sting operation in October 2011. He was accused of trying to meet a person he thought was a 15-year-old girl for sex after communicating with her online.

His attorneys argued Puetz was entrapped by an undercover agent and he didn’t solicit anyone.

Prosecutors did not say if they intend to retry Puetz on the solicitation charge.

See video at KSN

KSNW TV

  • Apr 08, 2013
  • KAKE TV

Todd Puetz, the Garden Plain Football Coach caught in a sex crime sting in October of 2011, has been found not guilty on two counts of attempted sex acts.

Jurors were unable to reach a verdict on the third count of electronic solicitation of a child.

Puetz was accused of trying to meet who he thought was an underage girl he had been communicating with online.  He was one of seven men arrested in the online sting operation where an officer posed as a young girl and lured them to a Wichita address where they were arrested.

The Exploited and Missing Child Unit arrested Puetz when he went to an address that was mentioned during a phone call with the police decoy.

The trial began early last week and the jury began deliberating on Friday.

Puetz was the second defendant in the sting operation to go to trial.  The first defendant, Kyle Miller was found not guilty by a Sedgwick County jury in early March.

See video at KAKE

KAKE TV

  • Apr 05, 2013
  • Kansas.com
  • -
  • by Hurst Laviana

A Sedgwick County jury began deliberations Friday in the trial of former Garden Plain football coach Todd Puetz.

After 31/2 days of testimony, the jury deliberated for just over two hours before adjourning for the weekend.

Among the evidence sent to the jury room are audio recordings of several calls that Puetz made to a telephone that was being answered by an undercover police detective posing as a 15-year-old runaway prostitute.

Puetz is charged with felony counts of electronic solicitation of a child, attempted aggravated indecent liberties with a child and attempted criminal sodomy. The charges grew out of an undercover police sting operation that targeted men willing to pay for sex with underage girls.

The operation was conducted in a house in the 15100 block of West Kellogg after a detective posing as a girl named Rissa placed an ad in the escorts section of the backpage.com website in October 2011. Puetz was one of seven men who answered the ad and were arrested in the sting.

District Judge Ben Burgess included an entrapment instruction in the information he sent to the jury room. The instruction said a defendant should be found not guilty if he was induced by police to commit a crime he had no predisposition of committing.

Entrapment is not a defense, the instruction said, in a case where a defendant was predisposed to committing a crime and police only offered him an opportunity to do so.

The ad placed by the detective included a notice that said the poster was 18 years old, but the detective told Puetz on his first call that she was only 15.

“That’s pretty young,” Puetz is heard saying on the tape.

“Well, it’s not like I’m 5,” the detective told him.

“Where are you located at?” Puetz asked.

In his closing argument, prosecutor Jason Edwards discounted Puetz’s claim that he suspected all along that the person claiming to be a teenage runaway was really a police officer.

“Either that’s a 15-year-old girl or a cop pretending to be a 15-year-old girl,” Edwards said. “Either way, why would you consider having conversation? But he does.”

Assistant District Attorney Shannon Wilson, who helped prosecute the case, told the jury that the sting operation was a good-faith attempt by police to take a proactive approach to combating the sexual exploitation of underage girls.

“You know there is a seedy underworld in our community,” she told the jury. “You also know that Todd Puetz chose to be part of that underworld.”

Wilson asked the jury not to seriously consider an entrapment defense.

“They did not go looking for him,” she said. “He called them. If he doesn’t call them, we are not here today.”

In his closing argument, defense lawyer Dan Monnat argued that the sting operation was a trap that ensnared anyone who happened to wander into it.

He reminded the jury of 10 character witnesses who testified that Puetz’s character and reputation were beyond question. Several said Puetz has often been around teenage girls and was never suspected of having improper feelings for them.

Monnat told the jury that before he was arrested, police had never considered Puetz to be a potential child sex molester. Despite all the publicity surrounding the case, Monnat said, no teenage girls have come forward to say that Puetz behaved improperly around them.

“Did any real 15-year-old teenager or child come forward to say that Todd had ever done anything like this before?” he asked.

Monnat said entrapment was a legitimate defense in this case.

“He had no previous disposition to be interested in 15-year-olds,” he said.

Deliberations are scheduled to resume Monday.

Read Article at Kansas.com

Kansas.com – By Hurst Laviana