Wichita police officer charged with child sex crimes from seven years ago

A Wichita police officer has been charged with child sex crimes stemming from an incident that happened before he became an officer.

Officer Joshua Hageman is charged with two counts of indecent liberties with a child. The charges were filed in Sedgwick County District Court on Tuesday, Dan Dillon, spokesman for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office, said by email. The case was presented to prosecutors by the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office in February, and, following a review, “a charging decision was made earlier this month,” Dillon said.

Hageman has not yet appeared in court on the charges. He has been placed on administrative leave without pay, the police department said, but it wasn’t immediately clear when that occurred. Hageman has been employed as a WPD officer for three years.

The Wichita Police Department announced the charges on Tuesday in a news release. The department said WPD officials “recently learned” of the alleged crimes and that they happened in 2012, when Hageman was 20 years old and before he was employed by WPD. He is accused of inappropriately touching two 15-year-old girls while at a home in Colwich.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case.

This story was originally published May 26, 2020 at 2:42 PM.