photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

Calvin Lee Payne, left, appears at his plea hearing with his attorney, Michael Clarke, Friday, Sept. 12, 2025, in Douglas County District Court

A registered sex offender who was found guilty of another sex crime against a child was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday in Douglas County District Court.

The offender, Calvin Lee Payne, 36, was convicted in September after pleading no contest to one count of criminal sodomy against a child who was 13 at the time of the offense in June 2022. As part of his agreement with the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office, a rape charge was amended to the sodomy charge and more than a dozen other charges were dropped, including one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, one count of electronic solicitation of a child, 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of interference with a law enforcement officer.

The parties jointly recommended a sentence of 180 months, which Judge Amy Hanley agreed to. Payne will receive credit for the 909 days he has already served while awaiting disposition of his case. When he is released from prison, he will be subject to lifetime post-release supervision and registration.

Payne, who has the worst possible criminal history score under the Kansas guidelines, was already a registered sex offender after a 2005 conviction in Plano, Texas, for aggravated sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, according to the Kansas Sex Offender Registry. He also has a conviction for robbery in Shawnee County from 2011, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records.

According to allegations in the arrest affidavit in the Douglas County case, the girl told police that Payne had sexually abused her in his car. Payne had additionally been in contact with the girl over Facebook Messenger and frequently texted her sexually charged messages. On multiple occasions he asked the girl to send him nude images, including video, of herself, which she did. Payne is also alleged to have sent the girl a nude image of himself.

The messages exchanged between Payne and the girl were discovered after the girl’s guardian confiscated her phone and reviewed her messages.