TOPEKA, KAN. (AP) — A former prison dental instructor in Kansas accused of molesting six female inmates he was teaching to make dentures has been convicted on one of six charges against him.
A Shawnee County District Court jury on Thursday found 73-year-old Tomas Co guilty of one count of unlawful sexual relations with an inmate and acquitted him of five other charges.
Prosecutors allege Co molested the inmates at the Topeka Correctional Facility between 2011 and 2018. Despite repeated complaints from inmates and state and federal auditors separately recommending he should be fired, Co continued to work at the women's prison until November 2018, when new allegations prompted the Kansas Department of Corrections to begin another investigation, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
Jurors declined to comment on their reasons for acquitting Co on the other charges.
The one count Co was convicted of carries a possible sentence of 31 to 136 months in prison. That woman's complaints against Co in January 2017 sparked the investigation that led to him being fired.
The four-day trial included testimony from six alleged victims, a prison employee who said she witnessed and experienced sexual harassment, and two special agents for the Kansas Department of Corrections who investigated Co’s actions.
A former inmate who accused Co of sexual harassment said it was an “injustice” that Co was convicted of only one count, the Capital-Journal reported.
“At least he’s being found guilty,” she said. “At least he’s not going to be able to work anywhere else, and he’s not going to be able to do that to any female, I would hope, and it will be on his record. Still, it just kind of blows my mind that he only got convicted on one.”
Co’s attorney, Chris Joseph, cited problems with the 2018 investigation by special agent Mary Ostrander, who he said didn’t preserve video evidence or seek a search warrant to support the women’s claims, or ask the women to explicitly describe Co’s behavior.
Co maintains his innocence, Joseph said.
Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay said allegations like those made against Co are difficult to prove, “and the investigation was far from perfect.” He praised the “brave women” who came forward to publicly accuse Co.