Kansas

A white Kansas detective accused of preying on Black women for decades faces trial

Published

1 month ago

December 2, 2024

A white Kansas detective accused of preying on Black women for decades faces trial

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A white Kansas police detective accused of sexually assaulting Black women and girls and terrorizing those who tried to fight back is about to go on federal trial, part of a tangle of cases tied to decades of alleged abuse.

Prosecutors say female residents of poor neighborhoods in Kansas City, Kansas, feared that if they crossed paths with Roger Golubski, he’d demand sexual favors and threaten to harm or jail their relatives. He is charged with six felony counts of violating women’s civil rights, and jury selection in his trial is set to begin Monday in a federal courthouse in Topeka.

The case has outraged the community and deepened the historical distrust of law enforcement, often seen as being more heavy-handed in predominately Black neighborhoods.

Golubski, now 71, is accused of sexually assaulting one woman starting when she was barely a teenager and another after her sons were arrested. If a jury convicts him, he could die in prison.

The trial is the latest in a string of lawsuits and criminal allegations that has led the county prosecutor’s office to begin a $1.7 million effort to reexamine cases Golubski worked on during his 35 years on the force. One double murder case Golubski investigated already has resulted in an exoneration, and an organization run by rapper Jay-Z is suing to obtain police records.

Golubski has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney has said that lawsuits over the allegations are an “inspiration for fabrication” by his accusers. But prosecutors said that, along with the two women whose accounts are the heart of the criminal case, seven others will testify that Golubski abused or harassed them.

“Every time I turn around, I’m looking,” said Jermeka Hobbs, who has filed a separate lawsuit against Golubski and is not a witness in the trial. Her lawsuit says she was groomed to be one of “Golubski’s girls” and submitted to sexual advances fearing that he would bust her for drugs. “I’m thinking somebody is after me. I have no peace at all.”

A veteran detective patrolling poor neighborhoods

Fellow officers once revered Golubski for his ability to clear cases, and he rose to the rank of captain in Kansas City, Kansas, before retiring there in 2010 and then working on a suburban police force for six more years. His former partner served a stint as police chief.

Golubski now looks nothing like the influential officer he was. He is under house arrest and undergoing kidney dialysis treatments three times a week. That will limit his trial to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

His attorney, Chris Joseph, said in a statement that some of the allegations against Golubski are 20 to 30 years old, adding, “In public filings, the prosecution has acknowledged that the verdict will turn entirely on the accusers’ credibility.”

But Jim McCloskey, founder of Centurion, a New Jersey nonprofit working to free innocent people, described Golubski in a court hearing as the “dirtiest cop I’ve ever encountered.”

Stories about Golubski remained just whispers in the neighborhoods near Kansas City’s former cattle stockyards partly because of the extreme poverty of a place where some homes are boarded up. One neighborhood where Golubski worked is part of Kansas’ second-poorest zip code.

Crime was abundant there, as were drug dealers and prostitutes, said Max Seifert, a former Kansas City, Kansas, police officer who graduated from the police academy with Golubski in 1975.

A fellow officer: ‘A boys will be boys type of thing’

Seifert said police misconduct was tolerated in the department. He described how informants and Golubski’s ex-wife complained that Golubski was soliciting prostitutes. Golubski also was caught having sex with a woman in his office, he said.

“It’s kind of like a boys will be boys type thing,” said Seifert, who was forced into early retirement for refusing to conceal a motorist’s beating by a federal agent in 2003.

McCloskey said in an interview that Golubski had women “at his mercy.”

The inquiry into Golubski stems from the case of Lamonte McIntyre, who started writing to McCloskey’s nonprofit nearly two decades ago.

McIntyre was just 17 in 1994 when he was arrested and charged in connection with a double homicide, within hours of the crimes. He had an alibi; no physical evidence linked him to the killings; and an eyewitness believed the killer was an underling of a local drug dealer. Golubski and the dealer have since been charged in a separate federal case of running a violent sex trafficking operation.

The eyewitness only testified that McIntyre was the killer after Golubski and a now disbarred attorney threatened to take her children away, she alleged in a lawsuit.

McIntyre’s mother said in a 2014 affidavit that she wonders whether her refusal to grant regular sexual favors to Golubski prompted him to retaliate against her son.

“She, like many people in the community, just viewed the police as all-powerful,” said Cheryl Pilate, an attorney who helped free McIntyre in 2017.

In 2022, the local government agreed to pay $12.5 million to McIntyre and his mother to settle a lawsuit after a deposition in which Golubski invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent 555 times. The state also paid McIntyre $1.5 million.

“That was the thread that gave people some courage,” said Lindsay Runnels, who serves on the board of the Midwest Innocence Project.

Women say they were threatened and mocked

Prosecutors say Golubski drove one of the women at the center of their criminal case to a cemetery and told her to find a spot to dig her own grave. He sexually assaulted her repeatedly, starting when she was just in middle school, leading her to suffer a miscarriage, court filings say.

Once, prosecutors say, he forced her to crawl on the ground with a dog leash around her neck in a remote spot near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers. With no one around, he is accused of chanting, “Down by the river, said a hank a pank; Where they won’t find her until she stank.”

Golubski introduced himself to Ophelia Williams, the other woman at the center of the case, by complimenting her legs and nightgown as police searched her home, prosecutors said.

Williams was terrified at the time because her 14-year-old twins had just been arrested in a double homicide. They ultimately admitted to the crime so police would free their 13-year-old brother, Williams said in a separate lawsuit.

Golubski began sexually assaulting her, alternating between threatening her and claiming he could help her sons, according to court records in the criminal case. The twins are now 40 and remain behind bars. The lawsuit she is part of questions their confessions.

The Associated Press generally does not name alleged victims of sexual assault, but Williams has told her story publicly.

Williams said in her lawsuit that she once mentioned making a complaint. She claims Golubski told her: “Report me to who, the police? I am the police.”

___

Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas.

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Kansas

Former Detroit Tigers All-Star Signs with Kansas City Royals

Published

4 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

Former Detroit Tigers All-Star Signs with Kansas City Royals

Former Detroit Tigers All-Star Michael Lorenzen is coming back to the American League Central, signing a one-year deal with the Kansas City Royals.

Per Jeff Passan of ESPN on social media:

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen and the Kansas City Royals are in agreement on a one-year, $7 million contract, sources tell ESPN. Lorenzen, 33, was excellent down the stretch, and the deal includes a second-year mutual option for $12 million. Versatile arm, great clubhouse guy.

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen and the Kansas City Royals are in agreement on a one-year, $7 million contract, sources tell ESPN. Lorenzen, 33, was excellent down the stretch, and the deal includes a second-year mutual option for $12 million. Versatile arm, great clubhouse guy.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 6, 2025
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As Passan mentioned, Lorenzen has already been with the Royals, finishing the 2024 season with them after a trade deadline deal from the Texas Rangers.

He went 7-6 in 2024 with a 3.31 ERA but he was 2-0 with a 1.57 in 28.2 innings with the Royals as they advanced to the ALDS.

A 10-year veteran of the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Angels, Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies, Rangers and Royals, he’s 47-44 lifetime with a 3.99 ERA. The Tigers traded him at the deadline into 2023 to the Phillies, who advanced to the NLCS. Lorenzen tossed a no-hitter with Philly in that season.

There had been little connection between Lorenzen and the Royals this offseason, but we did hear that Lorenzen could be an option for teams as a two-way player. Perhaps the Royals will let him get some at-bats as well. Lorenzen had previously been linked to the Chicago White Sox and Miami Marlins.

It’s unknown what his role will be with the Royals. Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, Michael Wacha and Kris Bubic figure to make up 4/5 of the rotation, so perhaps Lorenzen can slot into the five spot.

The Royals finished just ahead of the Tigers in the division a season ago. Both teams made the playoffs, with the Tigers losing to the Guardians in the ALDS.

Continue to follow our Fastball On SI coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following us on Twitter @FastballFN.

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Kansas

Tennessee still No. 1 as Kansas tumbles in USA TODAY Sports men’s college basketball poll

Published

11 hours ago

January 6, 2025

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Tennessee still No. 1 as Kansas tumbles in USA TODAY Sports men’s college basketball poll

Tennessee now stands as the lone undefeated team in Division I men’s basketball. Unsurprisingly, the Volunteers will spend another week at No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

After handling Arkansas over the weekend, the Volunteers picked up 21 of 31 first-place votes this week to retain the top spot. Auburn once again checks in at No. 2, claiming the remaining 10 top votes. Iowa State holds at No. 3, with Duke also staying put at No. 4.

The shuffling begins at No. 5, where Alabama moves up a notch after handing new SEC member Oklahoma its first loss. Marquette jumps two places to No. 6. Kentucky climbs four spots to No. 7 after beating previously unscathed Florida in the game of the weekend on Saturday.

TOP 25: Complete USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball poll

WEEKEND RECAP: SEC, Big Ten going different directions

The voters were kind to the Gators, who fall just three places to No. 8. Texas A&M is No. 9, and two-time defending champion Connecticut has worked its way back into the top 10.

The voters were not as kind to Kansas. The Jayhawks bounced back from a midweek loss to West Virginia by pounding Central Florida on the road but still drops five places to No. 12. Oklahoma and Oregon also slip out of the top 10, checking in at No. 16 and No. 17 respectively.

Illinois makes the biggest jump within the Top 25, gaining five positions to No. 15 after a successful trip to the Big Ten’s new Pacific Northwest enclave with defeat of Oregon and Washington.

West Virginia enters the rankings at No. 23 thanks to that victory against Kansas. No. 24 Michigan and No. 25 Utah State rejoin the poll. Cincinnati, Baylor and Maryland drop out this week.

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Kansas

WEATHER: Major highways still closed across east-central, northeast Kansas

Published

19 hours ago

January 6, 2025

Press Room

WEATHER: Major highways still closed across east-central, northeast Kansas

If you’re planning to travel, this may not be your day.

State and federal highways in northeast, east-central and central Kansas remain closed after a powerful winter storm brought a combination of ice, snow and wind to the state over the weekend.

Kandrive.gov says the following highways are closed across the KVOE listening area:

*US Highway 50 west of Emporia
*US Highway 56
*US Highway 75 north of BETO Junction
*Kansas Highway 78
*Kansas Highway 99 north of Madison
*Kansas Highway 130
*Kansas Highway 150
*Kansas Highway 170
*Kansas Highway 177

Lyon County Emergency Management Director Jarrod Fell says the storm progression set us up for our current travel situation.

Cleared roads continue to drift shut outside the Emporia city limits. In town, Public Works has bladed the main arterials and residential collector, or more heavily-traveled, streets. Side streets don’t get plowed by the city, and they are blanketed by snow. Director Dean Grant says the city is using a special salt to combat the snow and ice.

Numerous schedule adjustments were reported through the weekend, and more are in place for Monday. Click here for KVOE’s Closings & Cancellations page.

Several injury crashes were reported in Lyon County, all within a 90-minute window Saturday:

*Just before noon, a wreck developed at Kansas Turnpike mile marker 118, or nine miles southwest of the Emporia tollgate. Emporia Fire Capt. Wade Schmidt says three passenger vehicles and two semis were in a ditch. Nobody was transported.
*As law enforcement and emergency crews finished that call, they were dispatched to KTA mile marker 119, or eight miles southwest of the Emporia gate. Three vehicles apparently collided. Nobody was transported.
*An Emporia woman was hurt in a crash at Roads 175 and X shortly after noon. Lyon County Deputy Tom Hardin says Fareda Gallager, age 64, had to be extricated from her vehicle before she was taken to Newman Regional Health with suspected serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Hardin says Gallagher lost control of her vehicle in slick conditions before it spun and rolled.
*Shortly before 1:30 pm, a crash involving eight vehicles transpired at Kansas Turnpike mile marker 145, or 18 miles northeast of the Emporia gate and two miles southwest of the Admire tollbooth. Schmidt says four semis, two passenger vehicles, a box truck and a KTA snowplow were involved. A driver in an unspecified semi was extricated and taken to Stormont-Vail Hospital in Topeka with suspected serious injuries.

Power outages started developing late Saturday night, and at one point over 2,300 Evergy customers were without power. That number is under 30 areawide, all currently in Greenwood or eastern Butler counties. Evergy District Services Manager Rolland Trahoon II conditions are still hampering restoration efforts.

If you have schedule adjustments to report, call KVOE at 620-342-1400, message the KVOE Bluestem Farm and Ranch text line at 620-342-5863 or email KVOE@KVOE.com.

Cold weather advisories continue areawide until 11 am with air temperatures struggling to get to 15 degrees and morning wind chills anywhere from -6 to -16.

If you have not signed up for KVOE social media alerts, go to Facebook@kvoenews, Instagram@kvoenews, YouTube@kvoenews and X@kvoeam1400.

*Click here for KVOE News’ prior news stories from the storm.
*Click here for KVOE’s YouTube channel, including updates from the KVOE News team.

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