Police briefs

Great Bendn Ex-police chief gets probation in child porn case -- Former Hoisington police Chief Phil Taylor has been sentenced to probation for possessing child pornography.

District Judge Mike Keeley sentenced Taylor to five years and four months in prison, but suspended the sentence in lieu of probation.

Assistant Attorney General Stephen Maxwell had urged that Taylor be sent to prison, fined $5,000, undergo post-release supervision and register with the state as a sexual offender. After Keeley declined Friday to order Taylor to prison, Maxwell asked that he serve 30 days in jail so he would know what would happen if he violated probation. Keeley also rejected that request. Taylor's attorney, Ronald Hodgson, said Taylor took pictures off the Internet and later put pictures back on the Internet. Hodgson said Taylor didn't personally photograph anyone. "Mr. Taylor got caught in the World Wide Web, if you will, that unfortunately is filled with this stuff," Hodgson said. Taylor now lives with family in Goodland and is looking for a job as a truck driver, Hodgson said. Hutchinsonn Governor's office offers reward in triple slaying -- The governor's office has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for a triple murder in Kinsley. A woman, her father and another man were found shot to death in December. They apparently were shot after the woman and the man had gone to dinner together. The woman's estranged husband was put on Kansas' Most Wanted List and charged with burglary and theft for stealing a pickup truck. Killed were Robin Vasquez, her father, Howard Franks, and former Kinsley City Councilman Tom Dinkel. Authorities are looking for Martin Vasquez. He is believed to have left the country. Co-workers and friends of Robin Vasquez said Martin Vasquez was trying to reconcile their marriage and was irritated at her relationship with Dinkel. Huntington, Ind. - Man gets jail time for performing castrations -- A man got 18 months in jail Monday for performing castrations in his apartment on men he says wanted to curb their sexual desires. Edward Bodkin, 56, pleaded guilty last month to practicing medicine without a license. He read a statement in which he said the castrations weren't part of sex-change procedures, as some had speculated. He said he castrated at least five men "to absolve psychological, emotional or physical needs" of those who sought him out. Jasper, Texasn Judge rejects appeal in dragging-death case -- A judge Monday rejected John William King's appeal of his murder conviction in the dragging death of a black man last summer. King's lawyers had asked for a new trial, saying a witness was threatened, a law enforcement official had improper contact with the jury and King's mail illegally was diverted. State District Judge Joe Bob Golden, who presided over King's trial earlier this year, overruled the motion. King, 24, was sentenced to death for the slaying of James King's lawyers have said that even if their appeal for a new trial was rejected, it would still serve the purpose of making King's allegations part of the court record for later appeals. -- The Associated Press

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