KANSAS CITY, Mo. – An 18-year-old man is facing charges of rape of a teenager and incident liberties with a child from an incident in May in Olathe at a KVC location.
Johnson County, Kansas prosecutors charged Michael Hamer with the crimes late last week.
The alleged crimes occurred at KVC Health Systems in Olathe.
The facility works with the Kansas Department of Children and Families.
Upon learning of the alleged crime, DCF launched an investigation of the incident and cited KVC with regulatory violations.
A statement Monday night from a DCF spokesperson said the employee that was part of the investigation is no longer employed at KVC.
"We are committed to providing safe, stable environments for the children in the care of the Secretary.”
41 Action News received a statement from Jenny Kutz, Vice President of Marketing and Communications, KVC Health Systems.
"Since keeping children safe is our top priority, we are saddened by the incident and deeply regret that there was any opportunity – even for a brief moment, as was the case here – for such a tragedy to occur. We’d like to share a few more details.
On May 5, a KVC staff person was supervising three youth, per the correct supervision ratio (1 staff person to 3 youth). Unfortunately, the staff person left the room for a few minutes to get supplies. When the staff member returned to the room, a 13-year-old female reported that she had been sexually assaulted by one of the other youth in the room, an 18-year-old male. We acted immediately by calling law enforcement and they came to investigate. We also immediately took the victim to the hospital for forensic analysis and other services. Last week, the 18-year-old male was charged with rape in the incident. The employee on site during the incident is no longer employed at KVC.
Our 750 dedicated team members work hard, often long hours to care for children and families, but it appears one person made a lapse of judgment in this particular case. We are working to ensure accountability and prevent this from happening again.
One underlying factor that does not excuse the incident but gives it context, is the fact that there are too many Kansas children in foster care. Click here to read more [kvckansas.org] about why there are 48% more children in foster care compared to 2012 and how we’re working to safely reduce that number. We pledge to continue working our very hardest with our partners to make the system safe and effective for every single child."
Hamer made his first court appearance in Johnson County District Court Friday. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 20.
Hamer remains in the Johnson County Adult Detention Center on a $500,000 bond.
