Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline filed a petition
Thursday in Harvey County to have Robert Larson
designated a sexual predator.
If Kline's request is granted, Larson, an ex-priest
who was convicted of child molestation in 2001, would
go to a sexual predator treatment program at Larned
State Hospital.
State law allows offenders who are designated
sexual predators to be held in state mental hospitals
to undergo treatment indefinitely, even after their
prison sentences are up.
Larson, 76, was scheduled to be released from the
Lansing Correctional Facility on March 29, but Kline
made arrangements with Larson's lawyer,
Dan Monnat, to keep
Larson in state custody until the petition is accepted
or rejected.
Kline said similar cases have taken about 60 days
to resolve.
It will be a challenge for Kline to get Larson
declared a sexual predator.
Larson, a longtime priest in the Catholic Diocese
of Wichita, pleaded guilty in 2001 in Harvey County
District Court to abusing three altar boys and a
19-year-old man while he was pastor at St. Mary's
Catholic Church in Newton in the 1980s.
As part of the plea agreement, which was offered to
Larson in 2001 by then Harvey County Attorney Matt
Treaster, the state agreed not declare Larson a sexual
predator.
Kline said only his office, and not a county
attorney, has the power to waive such a declaration.
Now, Kline will have to prove that he is not bound
to the plea agreement, and that Larson is not stable
enough to return to society.
Kline said the evidence he has against Larson,
which may include at least part of a psychological
evaluation, will indicate Larson is likely to offend
again.
Monnat said he
expected the action to be resolved quickly.
"After all, 76-year-old Robert Larson has not
committed an offense in at least 18 years, has been
through extensive treatment at a renowned treatment
facility and has been a model prisoner for five
years." Monnat said.
Monnat would
not say whether he believed Kline's petition would be
accepted or rejected.
