Former cop pleads guilty to decade of sexual assaults, window peeping in Hutchinson

Amy Renee Leiker
Updated ·3 min read
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A former Hutchinson police officer accused of preying on women and girls while he was employed with the department on Monday admitted to committing a dozen felonies and five misdemeanors linked to a decade of sexual assault, prowler and peeping tom reports involving at least 15 victims.

Reno County District Attorney Thomas Stanton said in a phone interview Tuesday that the ex-cop, 52-year-old Todd Allen, “pleaded guilty to a count for each and every victim represented” in a criminal complaint filed last year charging him with 24 crimes, including rape, kidnapping, sexual battery and aggravated indecent liberties with a child spanning from 2012 to June 2022.

Allen worked for the Hutchinson Police Department for more than 24 years until his January 2019 resignation, serving in positions that included school resource officer, DARE officer and patrolman, The Eagle previously reported.

“It’s unfortunate that a person who was charged with protecting the safety of the community used his knowledge of law enforcement to prey upon women in our community,” Stanton said by phone Tuesday.

“I’m glad that we were able to seek justice for those victims who reported these crimes,” he said.

Allen’s defense attorney did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment Tuesday morning.

Stanton said his office is seeking a 23 1/2-year prison term in the case but noted that Allen’s attorney could ask the judge to impose less time, or probation. It’s unclear whether that will happen.

But Stanton said Tuesday he would oppose any request for leniency.

Allen is scheduled for sentencing on May 22. He is currently free on bond but is subject to supervision including wearing an ankle monitor, Stanton said.

According to Stanton, the 17 crimes Allen pleaded guilty to include:

  • An aggravated sexual battery on Oct. 9, 2012

  • Rapes on July 5, 2013, and Oct. 8, 2015

  • Attempted rapes on Aug. 16, 2013, and Feb. 18, 2014

  • Attempted aggravated sexual batteries on Oct. 3, 2013, and Oct. 19, 2014

  • Aggravated indecent liberties with a child on Nov. 17, 2016

  • Kidnappings and aggravated sexual batteries on Nov. 2, 2018, and in July 2018

  • Misdemeanor breaches of privacy that occurred in May of 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 and on June 19, 2022

The rest of the charges in the criminal complaint — most alternative counts, Stanton said — were dismissed as part of Allen’s plea deal.

Allen’s resignation from the Hutchinson Police Department followed a November 2018 news conference where the police chief discussed a six-year string of sexual assaults previously undisclosed to the public that had targeted women and girls ranging in age from 15 to 28. At the time, the chief said the crimes had been committed by a man who identified himself as an officer or security and sometimes wore a mask. The man approached parked vehicles in local parks at night, shined lights in the occupants’ faces and ordered them out before sexually assaulting them, the chief said.

Police also had linked a series of prowler and window peeping reports in northwest Hutchinson near Allen’s home to the sexual assaults, the chief said at the time.

Allen was arrested in August 2022.