Kansas man gets 15-year sentence for child pornography possession
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — An Arkansas City man has been sentenced to federal prison in connection to possession of child pornography.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says Scott Warren Vass, 57, of Arkansas City, has been sentenced in federal court in Wichita to 188 months (15 years and 8 months) in federal prison. He had pled guilty to one count of possession of child pornography.
President Trump weighs in on vandalism at Wichita Catholic church
He was charged following an April 2023 search of his home where the Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered multiple devices belonging to Vass containing material related to child sexual abuse. The U.S. Attorney says several of Vass' Google accounts contained sexually explicit material involving children under the age of 12.
Vass's investigation and prosecution are part of the Justice Department's Project Safe Childhood. The FBI was the investigating agency.
If you have a tip about a crime involving children, you can report it to the NCMEC CyberTipline.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Associated Press
10 minutes ago
- Associated Press
What to know after anti-immigrant violence flares in a Northern Ireland town
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USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
I first went to jail at 11. Coming home at 32, I entered a different kind of prison.
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That's why clean slate, expungement and pardon legislation aren't abstract policy ideas to me ‒ they are deeply personal, transformational tools that can open doors otherwise locked shut. These aren't about erasing accountability. They're about recognizing rehabilitation, maturity and the human capacity for change. They're about giving people a real chance to rejoin the communities they never stopped loving. After my release, I refused to be defined by my record. Instead, I became the first formerly incarcerated person ever hired by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Delaware. I helped anchor and launch the state's first federal reentry court, a visionary model that is still operating today and successfully serving Delawareans. I didn't just reenter society ‒ I helped reimagine what reentry could look like. But even with that level of access and success, I still faced unnecessary hurdles that clean slate legislation would have helped eliminate. Momentum for record-clearing legislation is growing Across the country, momentum for record-clearing legislation is growing. In recent months, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed the Expungement Reform Act into law, expanding eligibility for record clearance. Thousands of Marylanders who have stayed out of trouble and paid their dues now have a shot at housing, education and employment that was previously denied to them due to an outdated or irrelevant criminal record. This follows a broader national trend. Twelve states ‒ including Delaware, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Utah ‒ have enacted clean slate laws that automatically seal eligible criminal records after a certain period of time. Opinion: I worked for this office under the DOJ. Funding cuts will make you less safe. These laws increase employment, reduce recidivism and improve public safety. And they do it without requiring the person to navigate complicated and expensive legal processes that often disproportionately exclude the poor and people of color. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, nearly 1 in 3 American adults in the working age population has some type of criminal record, most of them for nonviolent offenses or arrests that never led to a conviction. Yet even decades later, these records can restrict access to housing, employment and education. The collateral consequences can be lifelong. We have a moral imperative to clean slates. We also have a financial one. The Center for Economic and Policy Research estimates that the U.S. economy loses between $78 and $87 billion annually in gross domestic product due to the employment barriers faced by people with criminal records. That's not just a policy failure ‒ it's an economic one. Opinion: PTSD can land veterans in prison. Restoring VA care honors sacrifices and struggles. Clean slate laws create stronger, more stable communities. When people can access jobs and housing, they pay taxes, raise their families and contribute to the fabric of our economy. The data is clear: When you give people a fair chance, most take it and run with it. At the federal level, the introduction of the Weldon Angelos Presidential Pardon Expungements Act is a potential game-changer. Named for a man who was sentenced to 55 years in prison for a first-time nonviolent offense and later pardoned, this bipartisan bill would allow people who have received presidential pardons to petition for record expungement. Currently, a pardon removes penalties but not the stigma. Even after a presidential pardon, individuals still face the barriers tied to their record. This bill would be the first of its kind to create a federal pathway for record expungement, offering real relief and real second chances. 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Clean slate legislation codifies that belief into law. It says to every person coming home: You are more than your past. You deserve a future. Let's make sure our laws reflect that truth, not just for me, but for the millions who are still locked out of opportunity, even after serving their M. Soliman is the founder of Soliman Consulting LLC and is serving a four-year appointment on the Delaware Workforce Development Board.
USA Today
8 hours ago
- USA Today
Leaders of ‘orgasmic meditation' company OneTaste found guilty in forced labor scheme
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Prosecutors accused the two women of running a yearslong scheme to obtain the labor and services from a group of OneTaste members, which included volunteers, contractors, and employees of the company. The members were often subjected to "economic, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse, surveillance, indoctrination, and intimidation," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release. According to an indictment, Daedone and Cherwitz intentionally targeted and recruited people who had suffered trauma. Prosecutors said the two women induced their members to incur debt by taking courses they claimed could heal sexual trauma and dysfunction. Daedone and Cherwitz also instructed their members to engage in sexual acts for "freedom and enlightenment," and failed to pay promised wages, according to the indictment. 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OneTaste was not a defendant in the case and previously said it cooperated with the investigation. The company now operates as the Institute of OM Foundation, and its current owners have said the charges against its former executives were unjustified, according to Reuters. She grew up in an AZ church community. Now, she claims it was actually a religious cult. Prosecutors: OneTaste leaders used 'abusive and manipulative tactics' Prosecutors accused Daedone and Cherwitz of using "abusive and manipulative tactics" to control OneTaste members. These tactics were designed to make members emotionally and psychologically dependent on the company, prosecutors said. Between 2006 and 2018, prosecutors said Daedone and Cherwitz coerced young women who had "turned to OneTaste for healing and spirituality" into performing labor for them. The work included manual labor and sexual services. 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"While employing such tactics, Daedone and Cherwitz demanded absolute commitment to Daedone, including by exalting Daedone's teachings and ideology." During the trial, prosecutors said three witnesses testified that they were pressured into becoming a "handler" for OneTaste's initial investor, who was also Daedone's boyfriend. The witnesses said they were forced to live with him, cook for him, and "perform demeaning sex acts at his direction," according to prosecutors. Other witnesses testified that they were coerced into participating in sexual acts with the company's potential clients and investors, prosecutors said. The witnesses said Daedone and Cherwitz had threatened them with termination, demotion, ostracism, and financial and spiritual ruin. Contributing: Reuters
