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The Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office knew a detention deputy "had sexual predator issues" more than a month before an inmate claimed he was raped in his cell last month.
That according to a court document filed Thursday on behalf of the alleged rape victim, as he seeks to have his probation terminated for a 2011 drug conviction.
In a "Motion to Terminate Probation", attorney Kurt Kerns told the court his client, should be released from probation because he was "severely punished" in violation of the 8th Amendment. The filing said the alleged victim received cruel or unusual punishment when he was handcuffed and sexually assaulted.
21 year-old David Kendall has resigned from the sheriff's office and is now being held on a dozen charges, including criminal sodomy and sexual battery.
The document states there were at least five incidents involving Detention Deputy Kendall prior to the alleged rape on June 3rd. It says officials knew of at least one incident as far back as April 29th. That's when an inmate reported being kissed twice on the mouth by the deputy. Kendall continued to work as that case was investigated.
Sheriff Robert Hinshaw called a news conference to respond to the court filing. Hinshaw says his office began investigating the April 29th case immediately. But he says at that time there wasn't enough evidence to take any action against Kendall.
"We book over 30,000 people a year, and in the last 18 months we've had over 130 allegations," Hinshaw says. "So to have a bright line rule that at any time any of these 30,000 inmates make an allegation, to immediately put this person on restricted duty or administrative leave is just not a viable alternative."
Hinshaw says the subsequent allegations against Kendall were the result of the investigation by his office. When a second case developed, Kendall's duties at the jail were restricted, and he was forbidden to have any contact with inmates. Nine days later Kendall was placed on administrative leave. Four days after that he was arrested.
The court document cites an affidavit from the investigating sheriff's officer. It details six separate incidents in which jail inmates claim they were kissed, fondled, propositioned or raped by Kendall.
On April 15th, Kendall allegedly entered a cell while an inmate was asleep and told the inmate he had about 20 minutes and "tonight's the night". The document says Kendall went on to have anal sex with an inmate identified as BK for about two or three minutes. He then "tore a piece of paper off BK's notebook and wrote 'David' with his phone number on it and told BK to look him up when he was released".
It is also alleged Kendall offered to perform oral sex on at least three inmates, offering one man a bag full of cigarettes as payment.
As for the June 3rd rape, the document says the alleged victim reported it immediately while Kendall was standing just outside his cell. It says Deputy Kendall told a supervisor he entered the cell because he saw a blanket wrapped around the inmate's neck. Kendall then accused the inmate of attacking him and said he had to handcuff the inmate in order to get out of the cell.
The document said the inmate was immediately taken to the hospital for a rape examination. It turned up evidence of semen and an anal tear.
Kerns said the timing of the document's filing has nothing to do with politics or the upcoming sheriff's race. "My loyalty is to my client," Kerns told Eyewitness News.
He said a hearing on the probation motion was scheduled for Friday and that's why the motion was filed. The Friday hearing was postponed, he said.