photo by: Contributed

Cormick G. Ferrell

A Lawrence man facing human-trafficking charges for allegedly allowing children in his care to be sexually assaulted in exchange for rent was charged Wednesday in Douglas County District Court with a new count of indecent liberties with a child.

Cormick Gabriel Ferrell, 43, was charged with one felony count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child between the ages of 14 and 16. The incident is alleged to have occurred between August of 2016 and May of 2017, according to charging documents. No other details about the new case were available Friday.

During Ferrell’s first appearance on the new charge Thursday, Assistant District Attorney Ivan Moya requested a $50,000 bond for Ferrell, who has been in custody at the Douglas County Jail since his arrest in August of 2021. A bond had already been set by Judge Sally Pokorny for Ferrell in his new case for $15,000, and Judge Blake Glover denied the request for the higher bond amount.

photo by: Contributed

A screenshot from a video posted on social media shows Cormick G. Ferrell in 2016.

Ferrell is now being held in the Douglas County Jail on a $100,000 bond in his human-trafficking case and an additional $15,000 bond for the new indecent liberties case.

As previously reported by the Journal-World, Ferrell was ordered to stand trial in November of 2021 by Judge Kay Huff on two counts of aggravated human trafficking, which are off-grid felonies that could result in a life sentence if he is convicted.

At a preliminary hearing on Nov. 1, the court heard testimony that Ferrell provided two children under the age of 14 to be used in forced labor, involuntary servitude or sexual gratification of another person between April 2014 and August 2017. The children were 7 and 6 years old when the crimes allegedly began.

Then-Senior Assistant District Attorney Seth Brackman argued to the court that Ferrell allowed two children to be assaulted in exchange for rent. One of the children testified that she informed Ferrell his landlord was assaulting her when she was 8 years old, but Ferrell responded by telling her to “suck it up” because they needed a place to stay, she said.

Ferrell’s attorney, Branden Smith, argued that the alleged scheme of Ferrell using the children for rent was speculative, because there was no documentation that Ferrell had received rent assistance.

The landlord accused of the assaults, Mark Strand, is currently in federal custody for a conviction in an unrelated case.

According to federal court documents, Strand accepted a plea deal in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in December 2019, when he was convicted of knowingly attempting to coerce and entice a minor to engage in sexual activity.

He was sentenced on Feb. 26, 2020, to 12 years in prison for the conviction, according to a ruling from U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga.

In a sentencing memorandum, Strand’s attorney, Celeste S. Higgins, said Strand was 68 years old at the time of sentencing and that he was facing allegations from “his former tenants” in Lawrence.

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons registry, Strand, now 70, is being held at a federal prison in Butner, North Carolina.

Ferrell is scheduled to stand trial on Oct. 17 in the human-trafficking case.