Federal charges filed in sex-offender registration case

A 32-year-old Douglas County man whose sex-offender registration case in state court was dropped last week now faces federal charges, a U.S. Marshals Service spokesman said Thursday.

Federal officials arrested Gustav Brune last Friday, charging him with failing to register and keep his registration up to date after a 2001 federal conviction for possession of child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed by Matt Cahill, a senior inspector with the U.S. Marshals Service. During a jury trial last week, Douglas County prosecutors dropped three felony charges accusing Brune of failing to comply with the Kansas Offender Registration Act.

Brune and his defense attorney, Napoleon Crews, had argued he was not required to register with the state because, according to the language in the state statute, his federal conviction would not be considered a sexually violent crime that forced him to register.

But now federal officials are alleging Brune violated federal law by refusing to register. U.S. Magistrate Judge James P. O’Hara this week also agreed to have Brune detained after prosecutors argued he could be a flight risk and was not amenable to supervision. Brune asked O’Hara to dismiss the federal complaint, but the judge denied his motion.