Perry man sentenced to 24 years for attempting to produce child porn

A Perry, Kan., man was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., to 24.3 years in federal prison for using a smart phone to record videos of his girlfriend’s daughter in the bathroom of a home in Lawrence, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

Ken Theis, 56, Perry, Kan., was convicted on two counts of attempting to produce child pornography.

U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson found that in once instance Theis placed a cell phone in the bathroom of his girlfriend’s residence and pressed the record button on the phone in order to record the 11-year-old girl. He placed the phone on a shelf just above the toilet. He transferred the video from his phone to his laptop computer. In another instance, Theis activated cell phone cameras in the bathroom to record the girl getting into and out of the shower. Investigators who examined Theis’ cell phone and laptop computers found child pornography from other sources, too.

Grissom commended the Lawrence Police Department and Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Flannigan for their work on the case.