Sedgwick County Jail inmate hospitalized 25 times since arrest in 2020 dies

A Sedgwick County jail inmate who had been hospitalized 25 times for chronic medical issues since his arrest in October 2020 died Sunday evening.

The inmate, a 36-year-old man from Junction City, had been treated by the jail’s medical staff over the past three years. He most recently was taken to a hospital by Sedgwick County EMS last month, Sedgwick County sheriff’s spokesperson Lt. Nathan Gibbs said in a news release.

In 2023, the man was hospitalized 8 times.

“The hospital staff had been attempting to treat him, but his condition had a very small chance of survival,” Gibbs said. Details on what type of illness the inmate was suffering were not released.

The sheriff’s office allowed the man’s family to visit him on Thursday. He died at around 5:25 p.m. on Sunday at the hospital. His identity was not released, according to the news release.

The man was booked into the jail on Oct. 30, 2020, on felony charges of criminal sodomy, aggravated indecent liberties and sexual exploitation of a child, Gibbs said.

The sheriff’s office investigation division and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation were notified about the inmate’s death.