Wichita father convicted of raping 5-year-old twin daughters

Jurors deliberated for around two hours before delivering a guilty verdict last week against a Wichita father accused of raping and sodomizing his twin daughters.

The girls were 5 and in pre-kindergarten when their teacher became concerned for their welfare after they spoke of their father’s genitalia during a classroom discussion about what the students did over Mother’s Day in May 2015. After talking individually with the girls, the teacher made a report to authorities. According to court records, the girls indicated their father sexually assaulted them when they misbehaved in school.

The father was arrested May 11, 2015.

The Eagle is not naming the girls to protect their privacy and because they are victims of sex crimes. The father’s name is not being disclosed because doing so would identify the girls.

The father, who is 33, was convicted of two counts of rape and one count of aggravated criminal sodomy involving one twin and a single count each of rape and aggravated criminal sodomy of the other.

During the six-day trial, prosecutors called several witnesses to testify, including school staff, law enforcement and social workers who interviewed the girls about the assaults. One of the girls also testified.

When the father took the witness stand, he denied the accusations and the girls’ mother said she saw no signs that her daughters had been molested as alleged. Medical personnel who examined the girls found no injuries but said that wasn’t uncommon.

The father had pleaded not guilty to the charges he was convicted of, plus two additional counts that prosecutors dismissed during the trial.

Because the father’s convictions fall under Jessica’s Law, he could be ordered to serve life in prison with parole eligibility after 25 years on each count. Jessica’s Law, passed by the Kansas Legislature in 2006, strengthened penalties for adults who have sexual contact with and commit some other sexually charged crimes against children younger than 14.

Deputies took the father into custody after the verdict was announced Tuesday. He had been free on bail but is now being held in the Sedgwick County Jail pending his April 6 sentencing date before District Judge Joe Kisner.

His bond is $500,000, according to online jail records.

This story was originally published February 26, 2017 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Wichita father convicted of raping 5-year-old twin daughters."