Katie 
Hutchinson, Kansas: Hutchinson Police Chief Jeff Hooper held a press conference yesterday concerning the arrest the previous day of a former officer on a number of charges related to sexual assaults that occurred between 2012 and 2018.
51-year-old Todd Wade Allen was a veteran of the Hutchinson Police Department that had resigned shortly after Hooper became the new Chief on October 22, 2018 after the previous Chief, Dick Heitschmidt retired. Allen was with the police department over 20 years.
Hooper explained during the press conference that three weeks after he became chief, there was a sexual assault in a city park. He stated that officers explained to him that the assault was related to a series of crimes that had been occurring dating back as far as 2012, but that as of yet, the department had issued no statement to the public concerning those crimes.
On November 6, 2018, Hooper held his first press conference in which he released details concerning those sexual assaults to the public and "provided safety precautions they could take." He said that after that press conference, the assaulted stopped, but the investigation continued.
Citing the 2018 press conference, the Lawrence Journal-World stated that all of the victims were females between the ages of 15 and 28 who were assaulted between the hours of 9:30 pm and early morning hours.
The women were contacted while they were sitting in a vehicle and had a bright light shone in their face. The suspect would identify himself as either a police officer or park security before ordering them out of the vehicle and assaulting them.
Allen has been charged in relation to 17 cases and has bonded out of custody from the Reno County Correctional Facility.
The charges against Allen at this time include two counts of rape, three counts of attempted rape, two counts of kidnapping, one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, seven counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of attempted aggravated sexual battery, two counts of sexual battery, breach of privacy, and five counts of eavesdropping.
The misdemeanor charges of breach of privacy and eavesdropping stem from recent prowler and pepping tom calls that the department had received between May 2019 and June 2022.
Allen reportedly worked as a school resource officer between 1996 and 2001 spanning 11 different schools before joining the Hutchinson Police Department.
Investigators suspect that there may be more victims out there that they are unaware of, and encouraged them to come forward.
The Hutchinson Police Department is asking that anyone with additional information contact Sergeant Jones at (620) 694-2822. Those wishing to remain anonymous may do so by contacting Reno County Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-TIPS (8477).
Allen was scheduled to make his first appearance in court yesterday morning.
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