OLATHE, Kan. (AP) An 18-year-old has been charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old at a suburban Kansas City child welfare office where children have been kept overnight because of a shortage of beds.
The Kansas City Star reports that Michael Anthony Hamer was charged last week with rape and aggravated indecent liberties of a child. Bond is set at $500,000. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press.
Kansas lawmakers and child advocates have been raising concerns for months about keeping children overnight in child welfare contractors offices.
Johnson County District Attorney Steve Howe says authorities have dealt with many troublesome issues at the KVC Behavioral Healthcare office in Olathe, where the rape was reported in May.
KVC spokeswoman Jenny Kutz says the agency takes “this situation very seriously.”
