LARNED, Kan. — A former Larned and Scott City man was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for sex crimes against a then eight-year-old girl at a residence in Garfield in May 2013.
On a motion by Pawnee County Attorney Douglas McNett, District Judge Bruce Gatterman ruled James Edwin Speer met statutory criteria to be designated as an aggravated habitual sex offender in imposing sentence for rape of a child under 14, and aggravated oral sodomy of a child under 14.
Speer, who was convicted of these offenses after a bench trial in July 2024, denied committing these offenses during the sentencing and asked the court to consider efforts he made to reform himself, in seeking a sentence that would have him eligible for release in 2027.
The enhanced sentence is based on a 2015 jury trial conviction of aggravated indecent liberties involving two incidents in Larned in June 2013. Speer is currently in the Department of Corrections serving the sentence in that case.
