By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
A Ransom, Kansas man found guilty of sexually assaulting a child in 2015 was sentenced to life in prison Monday in Ellis County District Court.
Robert Wayne Evel, 54, was arrested in 2022 and charged in Ellis County with one count each of aggravated criminal sodomy, attempted rape, aggravated indecent liberties with a child and criminal threat.
According to court documents, Evel was accused of assaulting a child, who was 10 years-old at the time, between June 1, 2015, and August 31, 2015.
In September a jury, after four hours of deliberation, found Evel guilty on all four counts.
Because the victim was 10 years old at the time of the crime, the three most serious felony charges fall under the Jessica’s Law statue.
In Kansas, a conviction under Jessica’s Law carries a lifetime prison sentence without the possibility of parole for 25 years if the defendant is older than 18, and the victim is younger than 14.
Monday Evel and his defense team filed a motion for a new trial and a motion for acquittal based on inconsistencies in the trial.
Ellis County District Court Judge Glenn Braun denied the motions.
The victim addressed the court and said, “the only thing that matters is that he can’t do this to any other child.”
During his opportunity to address the court before sentencing, Evel said that the victim gave a lot of inconsistent answers in her testimony and interviews with the police. He questioned whether the county attorney’s office and the court was, “looking for the truth or just imprisonment.”
During sentencing, Evel had also requested a downward or durational departure. A downward departure allows the judge to issue a prison sentence shorter than what is in the sentencing guidelines.
Braun also denied that motion.
In handing down his sentence Braun addressed testimony from a friend of Evel who testified on his behalf and asked the court to allow him to, “live as a free man.”
Braun said, “The victim will never live as a free woman. She will live with that pain and scars for the rest of her life.”
He also said that Evel took advantage of the trust the victim had built with Evel when he was her mother’s boyfriend.
Braun sentenced Evel to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years for the three Jessica’s Law crimes — charges of aggravated criminal sodomy, attempted rape and aggravated indecent liberties with a child.
Under Kansas law, only the convictions for aggravated criminal sodomy and attempted rape can run consecutively for a total of life in prison without the possibility of parole for 50 years.
The life sentence for aggravated indecent liberties with a child and the six month sentence for criminal threat will run concurrently to the other charges.
Evel was remanded to the custody of the Ellis County Sheriff's Office awaiting transportation to the Kansas Department of Corrections.