To the editor:

I was deeply troubled and disgusted by the May 12 article detailing how Cory Elkins would be receiving a reduced sentence due to what I consider a clerical error. What’s more disturbing is the callous and dismissive disregard for the victims of his numerous heinous acts. According to the article, none of the victims were informed, still have not been officially informed and only found out through happenstance.

I was in the courtroom when the victims of this violent serial rapist were asked to recount the horrific events they suffered. The only thing that offset the grotesque and terrifying testimony was the bravery of the victims as they recalled the torture they suffered at his hands. It is astounding to me the way the DA and the director of the Project for Innocence at KU, Jean Phillips, can so flippantly shirk responsibility when it comes to the gross lack of information the victims have received about Elkins’ release. The DA reverts to infantilizing the victims, claiming the office didn’t want to “open old wounds”; while Ms. Philips reverts to some ambiguous legal ideal as if to question her is to question the law itself.

The DA and the KU Project for Innocence should be ashamed and humiliated by their callous disregard for these victims. They are no way advancing the cause of justice; all they are doing is preening while a vile and violent serial rapist is freed to do it again. It’s repulsive, and these victims deserve much, much more.

Mike Bannen,

Overland Park