Convicted sex offender received break after break

Eight years ago as a 12-year-old, Keith Hawkins was charged with raping a 5-year-old girl in McPherson County. He was convicted of aggravated indecent liberties two years later.

That began a troubling sequence of events leading to release a year early from juvenile custody, according to expanded reporting by The Eagle’s Tim Potter. He was released on Aug. 1, 2016, and one year and seven days later he was arrested for the killings of Alyssa Runyon, 24, and her 4-year-old daughter Zaylynn Paz in Runyon’s Newton apartment.

As more facts are uncovered, it’s becoming apparent that Hawkins received break after break — even as a convicted sex offender.

His name was not made public on a sex-offender registry after his conviction. He violated his probation by being suspended from school and a sex-offender treatment program.

His probation was twice lengthened by a year, and in 2014 and 2015 his arrest record lists at least seven instances of trouble, most times with multiple violations or charges. Finally, in August 2015, he was sent to a juvenile correctional facility on a two-year sentence.

Somehow, his lawyer got him out a year early. In February, his probation was ended by a McPherson County judge.

The rundown of Hawkins’ last seven years is sad and horrifying. He failed chance after chance, yet was able to earn early release from a juvenile corrections facility with an indecent liberties conviction on his record. Runyon’s father, Edward, is right to think juvenile offenders should receive harsher penalties, especially for sex crimes.

This story was originally published August 25, 2017 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Convicted sex offender received break after break."