HUTCHINSON, Kan. – A former Hutchinson Police officer was sentenced Monday to 23 ½ years in prison for a series of crimes that took place over the span of a decade, most of which involved incidents in Carey Park where he approached women late at night and sexually assaulted them.
Todd Allen pleaded guilty in April to 12 felony and five misdemeanor charges, including three counts of rape, two each of kidnapping, attempted rape and aggravated sexual assault, and single counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a 15-year-old girl and attempted sexual battery. The criminal activity took place between November 2012 and November 2018.
Allen also agreed, under a plea deal, to five misdemeanor counts of breach of privacy involving incidents from 2019 to 2022. The plea agreement called for sentences on one rape count, one kidnapping count, and the attempted sexual battery and aggravated indecent liberties charges to run consecutively, with all other charges to run concurrently.
Allen’s attorney, Chrystal Krier, asked Judge Schroeder to either place him on probation or give him a reduced prison sentence. Krier cited his not having any prior criminal history, being a model citizen for many years through his involvement in youth and church groups, family ties, taking responsibility for his actions, and the fact he had no issues after being released from jail on a $250,000 bond.
Reno County District Judge Keith Schroeder, who imposed the aggravated sentence called for under state sentencing guidelines for each of the felony charges and the maximum sentence on the misdemeanors, said in denying a motion for departure from guidelines that the only reason he agreed to follow the plea deal was that it allowed the victims to avoid going to trial.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Kim Rodebaugh went through each of the incidents that occurred in the case, ten of which took place in Carey Park. Allen posed as a park security officer and forced women who he told were in the park after hours to exit their vehicles, after which he would engage in assorted indecent acts.
The breach of privacy charges involved primarily “window peeping” incidents that occurred after he left the police department and went to work as a security officer at Hutchinson Regional Medical Center. It was one of those incidents, in June 2012, where he had entered a property and looked over a fence at a home where a party of mostly females was taking place, that led to Allen being apprehended and later connected to the other crimes.
In response to Krier’s statement that the degree of harm was less than typically seen in such crimes, Rodebaugh responded that while that may have been the case physically, psychologically there was considerable harm to each victim. Rodebaugh read excerpts from several victims, all of whom submitted impact statements as part of a pre-sentence investigation and one of whom addressed the court.
Regarding the degree of harm cited by both attorneys, Judge Schroeder said that Allen’s family, friends, church, and others were also victims of his crimes.
As part of his sentence, Allen was ordered to pay just over $1,500 in restitution to one of the victims for therapy expenses, along with court costs and DNA fees. He will be eligible for good time credit which could allow for his release after serving approximately 20 years, after which he will be on lifetime post-release supervision and a sexual offender registration requirement for life.
Following sentencing, Allen was taken into custody by Reno County Sheriff’s Deputies and transported to the Reno County Correctional Facility pending transfer to the Reception and Diagnostic Unit at El Dorado Correctional Facility.
