Convicted sex offender gets new commitment trial

TOPEKA ? A repeat child-sex offender convicted of crimes in Douglas County will get a new trial on whether he should be committed to a state hospital for sexually violent predators, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled today.

The case involved Randy Foster, 46, who has a history of numerous sexual assaults of girls as young as the age of 2, according to court documents.

Foster had served his prison sentence but was then committed under civil proceedings to the sexual predator program at Larned State Hospital for an indefinite period.

Foster alleged that during that civil trial proceeding, the prosecutor made inappropriate comments that prejudiced the jury.

In a unanimous decision released today, the state Supreme Court agreed.

During opening statements in that 2003 trial, Assistant Atty. Gen. Nola Wright told the jury Foster already had been deemed a predator in numerous evaluations and screenings, and that even the judge had found probable cause to go forward with the case.