Former Wichita public schools safety supervisor’s sex crimes hearing moved to April 9

A hearing that had been scheduled Wednesday for Alex Robinson, the former Wichita public schools safety supervisor and former Wichita police officer accused of molesting young boys, has been moved to April 9 after a witness could not appear, a spokesman for the Sedgwick County district attorney said by e-mail.

Dan Dillon said “a travel issue” with a witness caused attorneys to delay the 9 a.m. preliminary hearing for another month. Robinson, 52, is charged with 10 child sex crimes in Sedgwick County District Court for alleged encounters with four boys spanning from 2000 to 2012. The counts – all felonies – include aggravated indecent liberties with a child younger than 14, indecent liberties with a child between the ages of 14 and 16 and aggravated criminal sodomy with a child younger than 14.

One of those charges is a Jessica’s Law crime, which means Robinson could be ordered to spend life in prison without parole eligibility for 25 years if convicted of that count.

Robinson’s defense attorney, Kurt Kerns, did not return e-mail or phone messages left by The Eagle earlier this week. Last year in an e-mail, he emphasized his client’s presumption of innocence, saying: “These type of accusations are like acid. They burn and injure the moment they make contact, regardless of a good man’s innocence.”

Preliminary hearings are used to determine whether there is enough evidence to bind a defendant over from trial on the crimes charged. Pleas, including not-guilty pleas, are entered at subsequent hearings called arraignments.

The continuance granted Wednesday is the 11th since Robinson was formally charged with eight child sex crimes involving three victims in March 2014. Prosecutors tacked on two additional charges – alternative counts of aggravated indecent liberties involving a fourth child – to the accusations in September after a 22-year-old man came forward during the investigation, saying Robinson had molested him when he was in middle school.

The first allegations surfaced in early 2013 after a 24-year-old man told Wichita police that he had been sexually abused by Robinson when he was 12. Robinson was arrested and jailed at that time.

The alleged victims are between the ages of 11 and 14.

Robinson faces similar charges in a Colorado court.

This story was originally published March 11, 2015 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Former Wichita public schools safety supervisor’s sex crimes hearing moved to April 9."