KANSAS
The Kansas City Star
BY ERIC ADLER
eadler@kcstar.com
The family of two Johnson County sisters who in 2014 were sexually abused by a then-17-year-old boy who attended Westside Family Church of Lenexa has agreed to settle a civil case against the church.
The case centered on Kessler Lichtenegger, who in October 2015 pleaded guilty to raping a 13-year-old girl on the grounds of the church while a children’s service was underway. He also pleaded guilty to using a cell phone to sexually solicit the teen’s younger sister, then age 11. Lichtenegger, incarcerated in the Ellsworth (Kan.) Correctional Facility, is serving a 17-year sentence.
In the civil case, filed in 2016 in Johnson County District Court, the girls’ lawyer claimed that leaders of Westside Family had long been aware that Lichtenegger had a history of sexual assault.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.