photo by: Mugshot courtesy of the Kansas Sex Offender Registry

Ray C. Atkins is pictured with the Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center.

A Douglas County prosecutor alleged on Wednesday that a man who was granted probation after a jury convicted him of rape has failed to comply with his sex offender treatment and has failed multiple drug screens.

The man, Ray Charles Atkins, 23, of Lawrence, was convicted in August 2022 in connection with an incident on July 19, 2019, in the 2900 block of Belle Haven Drive. Charging documents allege that Atkins assaulted a woman when he was 19 and she was 17. He was sentenced to five years of probation with an underlying sentence of 155 months, just shy of 13 years, as the Journal-World reported.

Atkins, in custody on the probation violation allegation, appeared Wednesday in court, where his newly appointed attorney, Branden Smith, asked the judge to consider granting him an own-recognizance bond, meaning Atkins would not be required to put up any money to be released.

Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden argued that Atkins should not be granted bond, saying that Atkins violated his probation by not complying with the sex offender treatment he has been ordered to complete as part of probation. Seiden said Atkins has also failed multiple drug screens.

Judge Blake Glover denied Smith’s request for bond but said that Atkins may be screened by pretrial services to determine whether he is eligible for an own-recognizance bond. Glover then scheduled a hearing for the probation violation on Oct. 3.

Atkins was prosecuted at trial by Senior Assistant District Attorney Seth Brackman, who left the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office before Atkins was sentenced on Nov. 1, 2022.

Atkins’ previous attorney, Nicholas David, asked the court to depart from sentencing guidelines, give Atkins probation and suspend his presumptive prison sentence, which Senior Judge James Fleetwood granted. Seiden argued against the departure.

At the sentencing hearing, the victim, who lives in Wichita, contacted the court and said that she was running late and wanted to attend the sentencing, but Fleetwood declined to wait until the woman arrived.

A clinical psychologist, Gregory Nawalanic, testified that after several cognitive tests he concluded that Atkins was not mentally mature and that prison would not be conducive to his rehabilitation.

“It didn’t appear there was a richness of cognition,” Nawalanic said.

Atkins spoke briefly at the sentencing, telling the court, “If you give me any treatment or probation, I will complete it.”

Fleetwood said that he granted the departure because of Atkins’ age, his cognitive ability and Atkins’ family support in the community. Fleetwood then sentenced Atkins to 155 months in prison and suspended that to five years of probation. He ordered Atkins to follow any sex offender or cognitive therapy recommendations.

“Mr. Atkins, you’re being given the opportunity to prove yourself over the next five years; take advantage of it,” Fleetwood said.

After the sentence, District Attorney Suzanne Valdez released a statement that she intended to appeal the case.

The appeal of Atkins’ sentence, filed by Seiden as a motion to correct an illegal sentence, claims that Fleetwood’s decision was prohibited by Kansas law and that “the sentencing judge shall not impose a downward dispositional departure sentence for any crime of extreme sexual violence.”

Seiden’s appeal was sent by the appeals court back to district court “for the limited purpose of deciding the State’s motion for reconsideration,” according to court records.

On July 24, Fleetwood affirmed the sentence and determined that it was not prohibited by law.