Month: April 2016

South Carolina man pleads guilty to sexual exploitation of Kansas girl

A South Carolina man pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of sexually exploiting a Kansas girl, acting U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said today.

Robert Pitya Dickson, 48, Fort Mill, S.C., pleaded guilty to two counts of producing child pornography.

In his plea, he admitted he communicated over the Internet with a 13-year-old Kansas girl. Dickson persuaded the girl to send him send him sexual images of herself. In March 2014 he traveled to meet the girl and engaged in sex acts with her that he recorded and transported back to South Carolina, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Sentencing is set for July 11. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 25 years in federal prison, the U.S. attorney’s office stated. Beall commended the FBI and assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart for their work on the case.

FOP Lodge 4 PAC endorses three candidates

The political action committee of the Kansas City, Kan., Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 4 has endorsed three candidates for the Aug. 2 primary election.

The candidates who were endorsed include Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman; Renee Henry for Wyandotte County District Court judge, Division 13; and Jennifer “Jenny” Myers for Wyandotte County District Court Judge, Division 14.

The FOP Lodge No. 4 represents officers and individuals in the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department.

Man charged with murder in 1988 KCK case

Steve Ray and Jolene Jones
Steve Ray and Jolene Jones

Melvin L. Shields, 48, of Wichita, Kan., has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder in connection with the 1988 murder of Jolene Jones, 28, and Steve Ray, 33, in Kansas City, Kan.

Wyandotte County District Attorney Jerome Gorman filed the charges on Wednesday. Jones and Ray were found shot to death near 19th and Argentine Boulevard in Kansas City, Kan.

According to the district attorney’s spokesman, the Metro Squad was convened to investigate the case in 1988, but the crime scene investigation and interviews by police detectives failed to identify the person or persons responsible. While the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department never closed the investigation, there were periods where no new leads came in and the investigation was not active, officials said.

During the years, forensic reports were issued by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation laboratory and more recently the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s office and detectives from the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department’s Violent Crimes Unit undertook a comprehensive review of the case, which led to the filing of charges, the district attorney’s office stated.

Shields is held in the Sedgwick County Jail. Bond has been set at $1 million. He will be transported to Wyandotte County for a first appearance next week, authorities said. The district attorney’s office stated that the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.