Wichita man who kidnapped, choked, raped girl in Riverside park gets life sentence

Amy Renee Leiker
·2 min read
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A Wichita man convicted of abducting, choking and raping a 12-year-old foster care runaway in a Riverside park in May 2020 has been ordered to serve life in prison plus additional time, according to the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office.

Gerardo Aguero-Hernandez’s life sentence carries parole eligibility after 25 years. He would start serving the 184-month portion of the sentence after that. Sedgwick County District Judge Bruce Brown imposed the sentence Thursday and ordered it be served consecutively, or back-to-back, to any prior cases, the DA’s Office said.

A jury in April found Aguero-Hernandez, 30, guilty of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated battery, battery and rape and not guilty of one count of attempted first-degree murder. Authorities have said he lured the 12-year-old girl into his vehicle, offering her a ride and cocaine, as she was walking at night from a foster home on North Broadway to her grandfather’s house on South Seneca on May 22, 2020.

But instead of dropping her off where she wanted to go, Aguero-Hernandez pulled onto a dirt road where authorities have said he strangled, punched and sexually assaulted her before letting her go after she yelled “that she wanted out,” a probable cause affidavit released in the case said.

After the attack, the girl ran to a nearby Wichita Water Treatment Plant building, at 1815 W. Pine, and got help from an employee who saw her walking to the facility gate after midnight. Authorities linked Aguero-Hernandez using video surveillance footage that captured his vehicle entering Riverside Park and leaving Sims Park, in the Riverside neighborhood, shortly before the girl ran to the water plant, the affidavit says.

Aguero-Hernandez told police he didn’t remember “anything about that evening” because he was extremely intoxicated, the affidavit says. He later pleaded not guilty to all charges.

In a written motion, his lawyer asked the judge to be lenient in sentencing because his client has a “very limited” criminal history, a family with four children to provide for and “is relatively young.”