Man, 46, faces charges in rape of young girl
A 46-year-old man has been charged with sexually abusing a girl multiple times when she was 8 and 9 years old.
Michael A. Chighisola is facing three counts of raping a child younger than 14 and one count of aggravated criminal sodomy in Sedgwick County District Court. Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said Friday that all counts fall under Jessica’s Law, which mandates a life prison sentence without parole eligibility for 25 years for those convicted of certain child sex crimes.
The charges stem from a report made to Wichita police on March 5. A police incident report indicates that the girl was raped “several times” from August 2008 to Dec. 12, 2009, according to the person who notified authorities. The child, the police report continues, lives with her mother, who “no longer has contact with” her daughter’s alleged rapist.
Chighisola was booked into Sedgwick County Jail on April 9 on suspicion of multiple child sex crimes. He made his first appearance in court on the charges Thursday afternoon.
Chighisola indicated in a financial affidavit filed with the court that he lives and works in Danville, Ill. He has a lengthy criminal history in Sedgwick County, records show, including a 1996 conviction for theft and criminal use of a financial card after he stole money from his Wichita Thunder teammates during a hockey game in January 1996. Lauded as the Thunder’s lead scorer at the time, he was suspended indefinitely from the team after playing less than one season, according to Eagle news reports from 1996.
On his financial affidavit filed in the child rape case, Chighisola listed a Danville grocery store and the Danville Dashers, a federal hockey league team, among his most recent employers.
Chighisola is due back in court April 24 for a preliminary hearing, where a judge will hear testimony to determine whether there is substantial evidence to bind him over for trial on the charges. He remained in jail Saturday in lieu of $100,000 bond.
Others who made first appearances in Sedgwick County District Court last week on sex crime charges involving children are:
Mickey J. Downs, 59, of Wichita, who is facing two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child for lewd fondling or touching that allegedly occurred in February and March. The victims are 5 and 10, according to a criminal complaint filed in the case. Records show he is out of jail on bond and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 24. Both counts are Jessica’s Law crimes.
Kevin T. Davis, 38, of Wichita, charged with one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The criminal complaint filed in the case accuses Davis of fondling or touching a 13-year-old sometime between July 4 and July 11, 2011. He remained in Sedgwick County Jail on Saturday on $100,000 bond while awaiting his April 22 preliminary hearing. The count alleged is a Jessica’s Law crime.
Stephen R. Sifers, 52, charged with one count of sexual exploitation of a child involving the possession of pornographic images of a minor. The crime is alleged to have occurred between Jan. 20 and Jan. 21, according to court documents. Sifers, a Wichita resident, is due back in court for a preliminary hearing April 24. He is out of jail on bond.
Manhattan resident Michael W. Rodman, 34, charged with molesting a 5-year-old on April 5. He is facing one count of aggravated indecent liberties – a Jessica’s Law crime – and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing April 23. Rodman on Saturday remained in Sedgwick County Jail on $250,000 bond in the sex crimes case and $15,000 bond for an offender registration violation, according to an online roster of inmates.
This story was originally published April 12, 2014 at 8:17 PM with the headline "Man, 46, faces charges in rape of young girl."