A former Kansas cop has pleaded guilty to a string of sex crimes in which he sexually assaulted 10 females while posing as an on-duty officer over a seven-year span.
Todd W. Allen, who was employed with the Hutchinson Police Department for more than 25 years, pleaded guilty on Monday to 12 felony sex crime charges and five breach of privacy charges in Reno County District Court.
The sex crime charges against Allen include: two counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape, one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, three counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of attempted aggravated sexual battery and two counts of kidnapping.
Targeting women in cars while posing as an officer
In 10 incidents from 2012 to 2018, Allen targeted women sitting in their cars at parks or parking lots, according to court filings.
He’d pose as a police officer or park security — when he was off duty — and shine a flashlight into their car windows or knock on the glass. He’s ask questions about whether they were using drugs and demand the women get out of the car and follow him to the rear of the vehicle or a nearby area, court documents said.
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Once there, he’d pat them down claiming he was checking for drugs or weapons, fondle their body parts and touch them inappropriately without consent. Some victims reported seeing Allen wearing as ski mask covering his face after the assault, court filings said.
In some instances, the victim’s boyfriend or friend would be ordered to remain in the cars as the assault was taking place.
Several victims reported that they at first complied with Allen’s commands because they believed he was a cop or park security, filings said.
How Allen was ultimately caught
The breach of privacy incidents unfolded from 2019 to 2022.
The most recent incident was in June 2022, when police responded to a home in Hutchinson where a resident said his cameras caught a man wearing gloves looking over his fence towards where a party of mostly females was taking place on the other side.
The resident said the man noticed the camera and attempted to shine a flashlight at it to blind the view and ran away, court filings said.
Based off the description of the suspect the resident gave, police stopped Allen at an intersection in Hutchinson and he claimed he was out riding his bike.
Allen met with detectives voluntarily on Aug. 10 regarding that June 2022 breach of privacy case and admitted to being the prowler. He said he “could have been” the prowler in each of the breach of privacy cases he ended up pleading guilty to.
He was also asked about two instances in which he was found by law enforcement walking around parks around 3 a.m. in July 2016 and March 2017.
Speaking on the latter incident, “he admitted to the detective questioning him to have been on foot in Carey Park that night hoping to encounter a female.”
Reno County District Attorney Thomas R. Stanton wrote in a court filing that Allen would search and view the incidents he later pleaded guilty to in the police department’s record database multiple times, even though he was not assigned to investigate any of those cases.
The court filing by Stanton said that Allen eventually admitted he was the suspect in the cases he reviewed in the police database and was the park prowler who posed as a park security officer or cop.
Stanton wrote that Allen didn’t offer an explanation for his actions other than the encounters were “sexually motivated” and he was “sexually aroused by his actions.”
“The defendant also admitted he knew that what he had done was wrong,” Stanton wrote.
Allen left the Hutchinson Police Department in 2019, and went on to work as a security officer on the night shift at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.
He was arrested and charged with the sex crimes spree in August 2022.
Then-Police Chief Jeff Hooper called Allen a “predator” when announcing the charges.
Hooper said that shortly after he took over the department, a sexual assault was reported at a park in Hutchinson and he was notified by staff that the assault was related to a series of similar attacks that had been occurring since 2012.
Hooper said at that point, officials hadn’t released details to the public about the string of incidents and he held a press conference in November 2018 about the spree to “alert the public.”
After the news conference, the incidents appeared to stop, and around the same time, Allen resigned as a patrol officer.
Allen’s sentencing his set for May 22. NBC News has reached out to Allen’s attorney for comment.
The district attorney’s office said in the plea agreement, Allen will waive his right to an appeal of convictions and the state agreed to recommend consecutive sentences on some counts, resulting in 23.5 years in prison. Ultimately, the judge will decide on the sentence.
Stanton said all victims will be given an opportunity to address the judge at the sentencing hearing.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
