KWCH - Kansas News and Weather - Ark City PD Talks With More Girls About Accused Child Solicitor

Ark City PD Talks With More Girls About Accused Child Solicitor

UPDATE:  WEDNESDAY 10:15 A.M.

by Cliff Judy (ARKANSAS CITY, Kan.)

Arkansas City Police investigators tell Eyewitness News they plan to talk to prosecutors about possible charges against 25-year-old Thomas Pennycuff soon.  Pennycuff is charged with sexually soliciting a minor in Sedgwick County, and he could face more charges in Cowley County.

The lead detective on the case in Arkansas City, Det. Jeremy Newman, says there's still a lot of work left to do before he talks to Cowley County Attorney Chris Smith.  Still, he hopes to present the case late this week or early next week.

Arkansas City Police Chief Sean Wallace told Eyewitness News on Tuesday that police hope to present 13-16 counts of Electronic Solicitation of a Child and one count of Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child.  However, that can change as the investigation continues or if more potential victims contact police.

After investigating Pennycuff's computer and doing a police interview, Ark City Police have previously said they believe 80 local teenage girls had contact with Pennycuff online.  Investigators also believe Pennycuff solicited 13 of them.

Read below for more details on the case.

UPDATE:  TUESDAY 3:15 P.M.

by Cliff Judy (ARKANSAS CITY, Kan.)

Arkansas City Police say four more teenage girls have stepped forward saying they were contacted online by a 25-year-old man accused of child solicitation.  The detective investigating 25-year-old Thomas Pennycuff for Ark City PD says four girls contacted the department on Tuesday saying Pennycuff talked to them through their MySpace accounts.

Thomas Pennycuff, 25, is charged with one count of Electronic Solicitation of a Child for allegedly setting up a meeting in Wichita with a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl.  The girl was actually a law enforcement investigator.  The current charge is based in Sedgwick County.  Pennycuff bonded out of the Sedgwick County Jail on Friday.

After Pennycuff's arrest, Arkansas City Police investigated Pennycuff's computer and interviewed him.  Through the interview and information found on his computer, investigators say he contacted 80 Arkansas City girls.  They also say he sexually solicited and met with 13 of those girls.

Ark City Police Chief Sean Wallace says police currently expect to present 13 to 16 counts of Electronic Solicitation of a Child and a count of Aggravated Indecent Liberties of a Child.  The Cowley County Attorney will decide if charges are actually filed in that jurisdiction.

Investigators appealed to parents of young teenage girls on Monday saying they wanted to make sure Pennycuff hadn't contacted any other potential victims.

Court documents filed in Sedgwick County show Pennycuff's wife and a roommate filed a protection from abuse order against him in 2007 saying he'd threatened and pushed them both.  Pennycuff immediately filed a PFA of his own against each of the women.  A judge eventually told the parties to stay away from each other for a year.

25-year-old Thomas Pennycuff has been charged with one count of Electronic Solicitation of a Child.

Read the Entire Warrant

He made his first appearance Monday in a Sedgwick County Courtroom. Court documents were filed in the case on November 5.

Read the Complaint Against Pennycuff

Stay with KWCH for continuing coverage of this story.

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By Rebecca Gannon (ARKANSAS CITY, Kan.) 

Police arrest a man they say tried to have sex with a teenage girl he met online. 

Arkansas City Police say Thomas Lee Pennycuff, 25, used the Internet to solicit a person he thought was a 13 year old girl.

It was actually an undercover detective, and police arrested Pennycuff.

It's no secret teens spend a lot of time on the Internet. What may be secret -- their life online.

Maybe not from Ariel Downing's 139 MySpace friends, but from her parents. "They never ask for it or anything," the 16 year old said. "They trust me enough."

Lindsey Reed sat just two chairs away at the library. The 14 year old doesn't share her online profile with her parents.

"They know that I have one, but they don't know about my password or anything," she said. She said she didn't want them knowing "because then my parents would get on, and would be like, oh, well, Lindsey's talking to random guys."

Police say if parents knew that information, it could prevent a lot of trouble.

The kind of trouble Arkansas City Police say Thomas Lee Pennycuff caused.

Ark City police say the 25 year old man contacted at least 13 girls over the Internet -- many of them in Ark City. He even physically met with a few.

"As a parent, I would simply tell my child they're not going to use the Internet if I didn't have their password," explained Sgt. Chester Pinkston of the Exploited and Missing Children's Unit with Sedgwick County.

"I don't want most parents to be afraid, I do what them to be cautious," he continued. "I want them to pay attention to what their children are doing online, I want them to understand where their children are going and what their children are doing, and the amount of time they spend on the Internet."

That means checking your child's web habits regularly.

Prosecutors could charge Thomas Pennycuff with electronic solicitation of a child Tuesday.

To contact the Arkansas City Police Department, call 620-441-4444. 

By Chris Durden (ARKANSAS CITY, Kan.)

Police arrest an Arkansas City man for solicitation sex from underage girls over the Internet.

The Internet Crimes Against Children or ICAC Task Force contacted local police earlier this month. The task force says a 25-year-old man was talking to what he thought was a 13-year-old girl. The girl was actually an ICAC investigator.

The ICAC Task Force says Thomas Lee Pennycuff has a history of talking to young girls and trying to meet them. He eventually agreed to meet the "13-year-old girl." When he showed up at the pre-arranged location, police arrested him for Electronic Sexual Solicitation of a Child.

Investigators searched Pennycuff's home. They say they found evidence linking him to the solicitation of children in Sedgwick and Cowley counties.

After searching his computer, investigators say Pennycuff chatted with 80 girls in Cowley County. Of that number, authorities say he met with 13 of them. He now faces 13 counts of Electronic Solicitation of a Child, and one count of Aggravated Indecent Liberties with a Child. 

Pennycuff is currently in the Cowley County Jail. He will eventually be brought to Sedgwick County.

The Arkansas City Police Department is appealing to parents of teenage girls who frequent social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. Anyone who may have talked to Pennycuff is asked to call (620)441-4435.   

The Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force covers Cowley, Sedgwick, Chautauqua, and Sumner Counties.  The purpose of the task force is to pool resources to help track, investigate, and arrest child predators and child pornography collectors.