A Lawrence man was sentenced Monday to 38 months, or just more than three years, in prison for commercial sexual exploitation of a child. A jury found Joshua F. Sinnard, now 40, guilty following a trial in January 2020. The victim, a 17-year-old girl, had been communicating via Snapchat with a user named “Wammajamma,” whom the victim believed to be a 15- or 16-year-old girl from Baldwin City, according ...
A man who officers believed was readying a semi-automatic assault rifle around closing time in a popular Lawrence bar district was sentenced Thursday to 16 months in prison. The judge told him that he or police officers could have lost their lives, and “that is something that none of us can stomach thinking about.” Dayson G. Kelley, 19, of Topeka, was arrested in the early hours of Friday, Feb. 28, after ...
A Lawrence man will stand trial in a child sex crime case that has been pending for almost a year, a judge ruled Wednesday. Bryon L. Brouhard, 22, was initially charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy. At the prosecutor’s request, Douglas County District Court Judge Amy Hanley bound Brouhard over on three counts of the same charge after a preliminary hearing. Two young boys reportedly told a ...
A detective testified Tuesday about meetings with a homicide victim’s husband that, apparently, the defendants’ attorneys were never aware of in a case that’s been pending for six years. Rontarus Washington Jr., 24, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated burglary in connection with the November 2014 death of his neighbor, 19-year-old Justina Altamirano Mosso. Washington’s attorneys, Adam ...
An officer who has been accused of fracturing a skateboarder’s elbow during an arrest and of lying under oath in a separate case has resigned from the Lawrence Police Department. Former officer Brad Williams’ resignation went into effect Wednesday, Jan. 6, according to LPD spokesperson Patrick Compton, who did not indicate a reason for the resignation. Williams had made only two arrests since mid-June ...
Now that Clare Nderagakura is at a point where she can take care of herself, she wants to give back to the community that has supported her and helped her grow. Her “love project,” Clare’s Community Closet, aims to provide basic needs such as clothes and toiletries for people without housing, families with low incomes and anyone else who needs something they know they can’t afford, she said. ...