A Manhattan man was taken into custody Monday afternoon on a warrant issued out of Riley County District Court.

Police say 34-year-old Gregory Hayes was arrested around 2:45 p.m. Dec. 1 on a failure-to-appear warrant connected to multiple original charges. Those charges include two counts of domestic battery, attempted aggravated robbery, criminal threat and violation of a protective order.

Hayes was issued a total bond of $12,000 and remained confined in the Riley County Jail at the time of the report.

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Members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity in Kansas State University’s chapter testified in Riley County District Court Thursday for a trial in which one of their former pledge members faces sex crimes charges.

Dylan Zeller, 19, of Leawood is charged with rape and aggravated sexual battery from an incident in August 2024 and the early morning hours the following day against a woman who was 18 years old at the time. The woman said she and Zeller were sleeping in his bed after a mixer with their fraternity and sorority, when she woke with his fingers inside of her vagina. She said Zeller also touched her breast while she acted like she was asleep earlier that night.

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The jury in a Riley County District Court trial of a Leawood man reviewed recordings of a victim’s call to dispatchers, officer body camera footage and testimony from the victim herself.

Tuesday was the first day of the trial for Dylan Zeller, 19. He is charged with rape and aggravated sexual battery from events on Aug. 29, 2024 and the early morning hours the following day against a woman who was 18 years old at the time.

The Mercury does not disclose the identity of victims of sexual crimes.

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A Manhattan man convicted of six counts of sex crimes against a child in Riley County District Court had his final appearance for the case Wednesday, during which he received a lifetime sentence as punishment.

Michael Lincoln Steere, 28, was found guilty in June of three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child by lewd fondling or touching and two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child by sexual intercourse. Jurors found him not guilty of one count of rape of a child.

Riley County District Court Judge Grant Bannister issued Steere two lifetime sentences, two sentences of 4 years 11 months and one sentence of 3 years 5 months. He ruled that all terms will be served concurrently. He will receive credit toward his sentence for over 1,000 days he already served in the case.

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A Manhattan man was sentenced Monday in Riley County District Court to 36 years in prison for two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy against two girls he knew.

Carey Paul Cortez, 48, was arrested for the crimes in October 2024. He was originally charged with additional charges of two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy of a child under 14 years old and two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child under 14 years old. Those charges were dismissed in a plea deal Cortez entered Aug. 11.

The victims for the charges are now ages 11 and 13. A document filed with Riley County District Court said Cortez committed the crimes between 2019 and 2024.

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By Rose Gruenbacher

A Riley County District Court case charging a 20-year-old Olathe man with rape and aggravated sexual battery was dismissed by the court Monday.

Kane Harris was set to go through trial last week for charges of rape and aggravated sexual battery that he was alleged to have committed against a woman in September 2022. A jury was selected for the case but had not yet been sworn in when the alleged victim did not arrive for the first day of testimony.

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By Rose Gruenbacher

A man serving as designated driver at a Halloween party in 2023 said he didn’t realize the sex he heard between two people that night may not have been consensual.

Darnell Hall told a jury in Riley County District Court Tuesday that he saw Joshue Sandoval Serrano, now 23, holding a passed-out woman on the couch after both of them had been drinking heavily that night. Hall, the designated driver for the evening, had just returned from bringing someone else home when he saw the woman in Sandoval Serrano’s arms. Hall said he later heard the two having sex.

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An 83-year-old Manhattan man arrested Tuesday who was charged with multiple counts now faces just one charge of interference with law enforcement in Riley County District Court.

Allen Steve Frazier made his first court appearance Wednesday. In a document filed with the court by Deputy Riley County Attorney David Lowden, Frazier is no longer facing the five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and one count of endangering a child that he was also charged with upon his arrest.

Frazier was arrested at Via Christi Hospital, and he is held in the Riley County Jail on a reduced bond of $3,000.

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The Riley County Police Department arrested a Georgia man Friday, for charges that include distribution of a controlled substance causing death. The man is currently held in the Riley County Jail on a $150,000 bond.

Rhante Rashean Brown, 32, of Savannah, GA, was booked with RCPD at 11:00 p.m., after being extradited from Georgia. He was arrested by the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 19.

Brown is charged with distribution of a controlled substance causing death, two counts of distribution of 10 to less than 100 units of an opiate and three counts of use of a communication facility in the commission of a felony drug violation.

A document filed with the Riley County District Court stated all of the alleged offenses occurred in April 2023. The same document listed fentanyl as the controlled substance in both distribution charges.

Brown is scheduled to make a first appearance Monday, at 1:00 p.m. in front of Riley County District Court Judge Jeremy Larchick.

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By Rose Gruenbacher

The jury in the trial of former Manhattan chiropractor Clark Petersen was not excused Friday morning, despite having reached a verdict in the case the night before. They had the additional task of ruling whether or not a judge could have the possibility of inflicting a more severe punishment than usual.

After about 45 minutes of deliberation, the jury ruled there was evidence of an aggravated factor, meaning Petersen could be sentenced more severely than typical for his crimes.

Upon the finding from the jury, Riley County District Court Judge Grant Bannister revoked Petersen’s bond. Petersen was taken into custody by officers in the courtroom.

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