HUTCHINSON, Kan. − A former Kansas police officer pleaded guilty this week to sexually assaulting at least nine women and a teenage girl under the ruse of questioning them about drugs.
Todd W. Allen was arrested in August for allegedly taking part in a series of sexual assaults, including rape and kidnapping, between 2012 and 2018 in Hutchinson, Kansas. He pleaded guilty on Monday to 12 felony sex crime charges and five breach-of-privacy charges.
Allen was initially charged with 24 counts, including 17 felonies. They included two counts of kidnapping, five counts of rape, two counts of sexual battery, and indecent liberties with a child involving a 14- or 15-year-old. Allen was an officer with the Hutchinson Police Department, about an hour north of Wichita, when he committed many of the assaults.
PREVIOUSLY:Former Hutchinson Police officer charged in connection with series of Carey Park rapes
Ex-officer accepts plea deal
Allen agreed to a plea deal capping his sentence at 23-1/2 years for his sentence. Under the conditions of the deal, he can get out early for good behavior but must serve at least 20 years of the sentence. Allen is also required to register as a sex offender and reimburse the court for related fees.
Details in the complaint indicate there were 10 sexual assault victims. The five breach-of-privacy charges occurred after Allen left the police department and took a security job. The last sexual battery and kidnapping charge was in August 2018, before Allen resigned from the force on Jan. 9, 2019.
After Allen left the police force until the time of his arrest, he was employed as a security officer with Hutchinson Regional Medical Center.
Allen pretended to question victims about drugs, prosecutors say
All the assaults took place in one of three locations: Rice Park, Carey Park or Joy Valley Sports Complex.
Most of the victims had a friend, brother or boyfriend in the car with them, prosecutors said. Allen rapped on the vehicle of each victim, shone a bright flashlight inside and said he was either a police officer or a park security officer. The victims all believed him and complied when he asked them to get out.
He told whoever was with them to stay in the car. He continued to shine a light in the victim’s eyes, obscuring that he was dressed in dark clothes with a face covering. During most of the assaults, Allen told the women and the 15-year-old girl to go to the back of the car, where he would assault them, from fondling to penetration, while interrogating them about drugs.
At varying points when each victim realized Allen might not be who he said he was, she screamed, and he ran, sometimes to a vehicle or a bicycle.
Allen was caught after he was found on a resident’s security camera footage peering over a fence. He also looked into windows on several prior occasions. One time he removed a stepstool from the back of someone’s property and attempted to leer in a window.
He accessed his own assault records while in department
According to Reno County District Attorney Thomas Stanton, Allen said the assaults were sexually motivated. Stanton said Allen was not on duty as a police officer during any of the crimes.
While he was a employed as a Hutchinson Police Department officer, Allen looked up records of the assaults that he perpetrated.
“He searched and reviewed many of the cases multiple times,” Stanton said.
Allen was a Hutchinson Police Department officer since the 1990s.
Allen is free on $250,000 bond. His bond conditions include wearing a GPS ankle monitor and not having any alcohol, drugs or contact with victims. He is scheduled to be sentenced in May.