photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Kenneth Soap is pictured at a motions hearing Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Douglas County District Court.

A Lawrence man awaiting trial for sexually targeting numerous pre-teen girls at a Lawrence middle school has now been charged with multiple additional sex crimes going back 16 years.

The defendant, Kenneth W. Soap, 44, was charged Thursday with three counts of aggravated sexual battery related to two incidents in May of 2008 and one in February 2012, and one count of aggravated criminal sodomy for an incident in May 2008. In July, five counts of rape and one count of aggravated sexual battery were also filed against him, going back to 2009.

For all counts, the complaint lists victims who were unable to consent either due to intoxicating substances or due to being unconscious or physically powerless. Some counts specifically indicate a victim 16 years or older.

Lawrence Police Department spokeswoman Laura McCabe told the Journal-World that the additional charges were a “continuation” of the original investigation.

“Members of our SVU (Special Victims Unit) have been working meticulously to examine all the digital materials in our possession and identify potential victims,” McCabe said. “We hope if anyone recognizes the suspect or believes they were harmed by him they give us a call.”

Soap is currently in the Douglas County Jail facing multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a child, aggravated internet trading in child pornography, aggravated human trafficking and sexual extortion.

As the Journal-World reported, he was arrested last year after a teacher happened to overhear four female students at Liberty Memorial Central Middle School discussing a man calling and sending them lewd messages on Snapchat.

That overheard conversation — about naked pictures and obscene solicitation to 11- and 12-year-olds — led to an investigation of Soap, which turned up even more disturbing allegations of illicit interactions with still more children, including the exchange of pornographic photos and videos for money and the man’s demands that the young girls call him “daddy.”

The next court date for Soap, who is being held on a $250,000 bond, is scheduled for Oct. 22.