Defense attorneys for a Leawood man charged with sex crimes when he was a pledge member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity called their first witness late Thursday afternoon, during the Riley County District Court trial of their client. Dylan Zeller, 19, is represented by Tom and Tricia Bath for a case in which Zeller is charged with rape and aggravated sexual battery in connection to to an incident in the early morning hours of Aug. 30, 2024 against a woman who was 18 years old at the time. The Mercury does not disclose the identity of victims of sexual…
Author: Rose Gruenbacher
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…
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. To view the full article visit theMercury.com. Click here for more…
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…
A Manhattan teen arrested in April in relation to two connected shootings at the end of 2024 has since turned 18 and is now being charged as an adult for his alleged crimes. According to a document filed with the Riley County District Court, Dontaivious Amaru Temple is charged with two counts of attempted first degree murder, three counts of criminal damage to property valued $1,000 to $25,000, criminal discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle causing bodily harm and criminal use of weapons. He was previously held in the Northwest Kansas Juvenile Detention Center, but has now been…
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…
A Manhattan man on Monday entered a plea deal reached with the Riley County Attorney’s Office for two charges he faced in Riley County District Court. Gary Keith Bouck Jr., 51, pleaded guilty to distributing 10 or less units of fentanyl and using his phone in the commission of a drug felony. The first count reflects a decrease from Bouck’s original charge of conspiracy to distribute over 1,000 units of fentanyl. To view the full article visit theMercury.com. Click here for more Riley County news.
Former Riley County police officer Stephen Clark made his first appearance Friday in Riley County District Court for charges including breach of privacy and unlawful computer acts. Clark, 42, of Manhattan is charged with two counts of breach of privacy disseminating sexual media of a person 18 years or older, harassment by telecom device and unlawful computer acts. Clark was arrested June 4, following the investigation of a report filed with RCPD two days before, detailing unlawful acts concerning computers. A 36-year-old woman was listed as the victim. Clark was placed on administrative leave June 2, and was formally fired…
Riley County police director Brian Peete on Thursday said the multi-agency effort to investigate the June 13 arson at Manhattan’s Walmart may soon lead to an arrest. “I think that where we’re at now, the information that we have and that we’ve gathered throughout the investigation, has given us a good, high level of confidence,” Peete said. The investigation into a fire that closed Walmart for the whole of Father’s Day weekend is a cooperative effort between RCPD and Pottawatomie County attorney John Paul Washburn, with assistance as needed from the Pottawatomie County sheriff’s office. The fire caused an estimated…
Former Manhattan chiropractor Clark Petersen, who was convicted in an August trial for multiple counts of sex crimes against former clients, will be sentenced for his crimes Oct. 31 in Riley County District Court. He was originally scheduled for sentencing Nov. 18. Petersen, 66, was found guilty of four counts of rape, 40 counts of aggravated sexual battery, four counts of sexual battery, one count of lewd and lascivious behavior, one count of attempted rape and one count of attempted aggravated criminal sodomy. To view the full article visit theMercury.com. Click here for more Riley County news.