A former teacher and debate coach at Buhler High School has been sentenced to more than 13-and-a-half years in state prison; 68-year-old Richard Young was convicted for sex crimes against minors.
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); the Reno County sheriff's office; the Buhler police department; the Wichita police department's Exploited and Missing Children's Unit (EMCU); the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, police department's Special Victims Unit (PPDSVU); San Bernardino, California, sheriff's office; and the Purdue University police department.
Young was convicted four months ago in Reno County on one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a minor; two counts indecent liberties; and one count of indecent solicitation of a minor.
Young taught for the last 47 years in several Kansas schools; he has hosted as many as a dozen foreign-exchange students in his home since 1997, including students from the Netherlands, Bolivia, and Germany.
The criminal investigation of Young began after a 16-year-old student from South Korea he sponsored in 2007 was terminated from the exchange program at Young's request. The student then visited his aunt in Philadelphia. The student's attorney contacted the Philadelphia ICE office, which referred the investigation to its Wichita office. Further investigation revealed additional molestation accusations from Young's three former stepsons, who are now adults; all three testified against Young at his trial.
The investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative, protecting youngsters from sexual predators, including child sex traffickers, criminal alien sex offenders, internet child photographers, and those who travel overseas for sex with minors. Since the operation's launch nearly six years ago, ICE agents have arrested more than 11,600 individuals.
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