Kenneth McClelland

A registered sex offender being held on a bond of $1 million is again asking the court to give him an own-recognizance bond or “a bond he can financially afford” — this time so that he can get treatment from his primary care physician and “relieve the Douglas County Jail of that burden.”

The defendant, Kenneth John McClelland, 30, of Oskaloosa, stated in a motion to the court that he suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, and “popcorn lung,” which is the informal name for the lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans. McClelland claimed in the motion that he had been told by jail staff that his treatments could become too costly and might have to cease — a claim that Douglas County Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal called “unsupported and baseless” in his response, noting that state law requires the sheriff’s office to provide necessary medical care.

Leal also said that, in any case, the remedy for McClelland’s concern would not be to lower his bond.

Judge Sally Pokorny, who was scheduled to decide the bond question on Friday, expressed skepticism about McClelland’s claim and said she wanted to first hear from Douglas County Sheriff Jay Armbrister.

Meanwhile, McClelland expressed the desire Friday to have a different attorney represent him, a matter that Pokorny took up privately with McClelland and his current attorney, Razmi Tahirkheli, who filed the bond modification request. Pokorny will render a decision on the attorney matter later.

McClelland is scheduled to stand trial in February for aggravated human trafficking and aggravated indecent liberties with a child in Douglas County. On Friday, he waived his right to a speedy trial in the event that a new attorney needs time to come up to speed in his case.

As the Journal-World has reported, McClelland is required to register for life as a sex offender for a prior conviction in Jefferson County of aggravated indecent solicitation of a child under 14. He was subsequently convicted of violating the Kansas Offender Registration Act in Jefferson County, and he was on probation when he allegedly committed the sex offenses in Douglas County.

Leal, calling McClelland a “public safety risk,” noted in his motion that state law requires a defendant charged with the Douglas County offenses who has a prior conviction for a sexually violent crime to have a bond of at least $750,000 cash or surety. Before reducing the bond a court would have to make a written finding on the record that the defendant is not a public safety or flight risk, Leal said.

In the Douglas County case, McClelland was ordered in June to stand trial after a 15-year-old girl testified that he contacted her on social media and asked her to be his “sugar baby” before he took her to a hotel in Lawrence to sexually assault her.

At that time Tahirkheli also asked Pokorny to modify McClelland’s bond to an own-recognizance bond, meaning McClelland would not need to pay any money to be released, but Pokorny denied the request.

“He is a threat to this community and the Jefferson County community,” Pokorny said at the time.