Thompson gets 20 months on child exploitation conviction
A Sabetha resident convicted of sexual exploitation of a child will serve a 20-month prison sentence, less about a third of that time already spent in jail, it was reported in Jackson County District Court.
During a sentencing hearing on Wednesday for 25-year-old Daniel J. Thompson, Kansas Second District Chief Judge Gary Nafziger accepted a plea deal between Jackson County Attorney Shawna Miller and defense attorney Christopher Etzel of Onaga that gave Thompson a full 20-months sentence with the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Nafziger noted that Thompson’s sentence would be reduced by the amount of time already spent at the Jackson County Detention Center, which, as of Wednesday, was 222 days, or nearly seven and a half months. And with a possible 15-percent “good time” reduction in the sentence, Miller said that Thompson could be free in less than a year.
Following his release from prison, Thompson will have to register with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation’s sex offender list for 25 years, Nafziger said. Thompson will also be subject to a five-year post-release supervision period, he added.
Thompson was convicted in early November on one count of sexual exploitation of a child stemming from alleged incidents in April of this year involving a 16-year-old Jackson County girl. According to court documents, the charge was based on his reportedly possessing a sexually explicit depiction of the girl on a cellular telephone.
Thompson had originally been charged with two counts of sexual exploitation, but as the result of a plea deal, the other charge, which alleged that he enticed or coerced the girl to “engage in sexually explicit conduct,” was dropped.
Etzel challenged the legitimacy of the charge of Thompson’s possession of the girl’s picture on his cell phone, saying that in Kansas, sending and receiving sexually explicit photos of a 16-year-old is a crime but sexual intercourse is not, “thanks to the Kansas Legislature.” Kansas state law has established 16 as the age of consent in the state, it was reported.
Furthermore, Etzel contended that Thompson’s conduct while in county custody has been exemplary, a statement that Nafziger accepted upon receipt of a letter from a jail employee confirming it. Nafziger said that Thompson was “well on your way to putting this behind you.”
In November, Miller said the exploitation charge was a Level 5 felony with a standard sentencing range between 31 months and 136 months with the Department of Corrections, adding that part of Thompson’s sentence could be commuted to presumed probation.
