Kansas Rep. Mark Samsel, avoiding jail, must apologize to victims and stay off Facebook
Kansas Rep. Mark Samsel can’t use personal social media and must apologize to his teenage victims, a judge ordered Monday, capping four months of court proceedings after he allegedly kicked a student in the groin while substitute teaching in Wellsville southwest of Kansas City.
The Republican lawmaker was given a 90-day suspended jail sentence and put on probation for a year by Magistrate Judge Kevin Kimball during a short hearing conducted over Zoom.
Samsel originally faced three misdemeanor battery charges following his arrest in April that involved two victims, both approximately 16 years old. He was accused of kicking a student and videos showed him talking to a class about about God, religion, lesbianism, masturbation and suicide.
He had faced up to 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine for each charge. Instead, Kimball — following a plea agreement between Samsel and prosecutors — reduced the charges to disorderly conduct. Samsel will pay no fines but owes about $263 in court costs and other fees.
Samsel is also prohibited from using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms for personal use. An exception is included to allow social media for political and legislative purposes.
Samsel initially pleaded not guilty to the more severe battery charges in May and was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation before accepting a plea agreement. On Monday, he pleaded guilty to the disorderly conduct charges.
“Your honor, I just want to say I’m sorry for what happened. I never intended to hurt anybody,” Samsel said.
Because of technical difficulties, Samsel used the camera of his phone to join the hearing. For much of the hearing, the camera was pointed upward at his hair and forehead, with much of his face not shown.
Samsel, who must write letters of apology to his victims, at one point asked the judge about how to send a letter to one of the victims, given that he doesn’t know who the person is and is prohibited from contacting that person. Prosecuting Attorney Brandon Jones said he would work with Samsel’s attorney to send the letter.
In the days immediately following the incident Samsel took a defiant posture, claiming he “didn’t do anything wrong” but also writing that he was “truly sorry that this has caused pain and confusion.”
But in a Facebook post last month Samsel announced he had sought mental health treatment and given up his substitute teaching license. He called the classroom incident an “isolated episode of mania with psychotic features’‘ prompted by “extreme stress, pressure and agitation.”
As part of his sentence, Samsel must follow mental health treatment recommendations and take any prescribed medications. The court also has the power to order mental health evaluations.
Following his arrest Samsel was banned from Wellsville School District property and events and lost his seat on the Missouri Valley College board of trustees, his alma mater. He graduated from the private liberal arts college in Marshall in 2007 with a degree in business administration and political science.
During an interview with investigators shortly after the incident, Samsel described a chaotic classroom with misbehaving students and said he had begun to lose his temper a little bit, according to an affidavit used to charge him in Franklin County District Court. The students had Samsel at his “wit’s end,” he told the officers.
Samsel said he “barely grabbed” one student and told the student to give him space and said he had heard the student had a bruise.
“He then stated, ‘I would honest to God never do anything to hurt him.’ Mark thought maybe (redacted) bruises ‘softly’ but ‘God works in mysterious ways,’” the affidavit says.
Students in the classroom interviewed by police described fearing Samsel and worrying he would harm them.
The affidavit alleged he kicked and bruised one student and grabbed another by the shoulders.
Samsel’s victims were given the opportunity to address the court on Monday, but no one spoke.
