Kansas police chief resigns days before felony charges of possessing child porn: records
A Kansas police chief who resigned last week has been charged with 13 counts of possessing child porn.
El Dorado police arrested Joel Justice Womochil on Tuesday. He was the Burns police chief until he resigned Aug. 8. He was charged with 13 felonies on Wednesday.
The charges allege that between Aug. 9-15 and between Aug. 12-15 he was in possession of child porn, with one of the 13 videos involving a child under the age of 5 who had a pacifier, according to court records.
Womochil, 38, is being held in Sedgwick County Jail, according to records and the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.
El Dorado police arrested Womochil in town on Tuesday, the same day they received a tip from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Womochil lives in El Dorado.
Burns city clerk Alexis Hatfield said the city had no idea about the criminal issues until Womochil was arrested. She said he was “very vague” when he offered his resignation to the city council last week.
She said Womochil said the resignation was not because of any problems he had with the department or city officials.
“It is in the best interest of me and this department that I make this decision,” she said, reading from the letter he submitted.
Womochil started with the department on Feb. 8, 2022, replacing Chief Stephen Evans, who died in an accident while on duty, Hatfield said.
Burns, a town of less than 250 people, had Womochil as the chief and another part-time officer.
