MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
RENO COUNTY — A former Reno County substitute teacher accused of multiple sex crimes involving students has pleaded guilty to reduced charges in Reno County District Court. .
Whitney Shull, 39, a former substitute teacher for Nickerson-South Hutchinson USD 309, had initially been charged with unlawful sexual relations, attempted unlawful sexual relations, aggravated sexual battery, and two counts of hosting minors consuming alcohol.
According to court documents the allegations stem from incidents that occurred in Reno County between Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 of this year involving three teens. Prosecutors alleged Shull engaged in sexual acts with two minors, one consensual and one non-consensual when the alleged victim was unconscious and attempted to force a third teen into a sex act.
Sedgwick County District Attorney spokesperson Lyndsee Stover, confirmed that Shull entered a plea on Thursday afternoon to five amended misdemeanor charges:
- Count 1: Sexual Battery of A.P., a class A person misdemeanor
- Count 2: Sexual Battery of Z.R., a class A person misdemeanor
- Count 3: Sexual Battery of K.M.J., a class A person misdemeanor
- Count 4: Unlawful Social Hosting of Minors Consuming Alcohol
- Count 5: Unlawful Social Hosting of Minors Consuming Alcohol
Judge Daniel Gilligan imposed a six-month jail term for each count, with the sentences for counts one, two and three which were ordered to run consecutively, resulting in a controlling sentence of 18 months. Shull was granted at least two years of probation, contingent upon her successful completion of treatment at Prairie View.
Under Kansas law, Shull must register as a sex offender for 15 years as a result of the convictions.
Stover noted that the plea agreement included an acknowledgment that under Kansas sentencing guidelines, three adult convictions of class A person misdemeanors count as one adult conviction for criminal-history purposes, per K.S.A. 21-6811(a).