Kansas
Room to help sexual assault survivors unveiled at Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A new room at the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department will be used to interview survivors of sexual assault and trauma.
The ‘soft room’ is the first of its kind in Missouri.
Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41
An organization called Project Beloved has set up over 100 soft rooms nationwide. The most recent room put into service isi n Kansas City.
“I’m really excited for Kansas City to have this room, and to set that precedent in this area for their approach to sexual assault,” said Becky Halterman, Project Beloved vice president.
Halterman has personal ties to Project Beloved’s cause.
“Project Beloved was started April 10, 2018, a year to the day after my niece, Molly Jane Matheson was found raped and murdered,” Halterman. Her sister, Tracy Mathesan, is the founder and Molly’s mother.
Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41
The organization seeks to educate the public and advocate for sexual assault survivors so they’re empowered to find their voices through the support they’re given.
“There’s a lot more progress that needs to be made, starting from a place of believing,” Halterman said. “Let’s invite them into this room, have them tell their story, investigate it, and find out what we can do.”
Zachary Mallory understands just how much progress is necessary.
“I was sexually assaulted at 17,” Mallory said. “I know what it felt like to be not believed. I know what it felt like to be unheard and to be re-victimized.”
A decade later, Mallory’s found love and safe spaces in his partner, his dog and community involvement. But that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten what he went through, particularly in interview rooms.
“Sitting in that room and just listening to them ask me questions, I’m like, ‘Why am I here?’” he said. “Sitting in fluorescent lights is not going to be a good situation, it’s going to make me more frustrated, it’s going to make me very uncomfortable, and I’m going to be very agitated.”
Tye Grant is President and CEO of the Police Foundation of Kansas City.
As a former high-ranking member of the police department, he recalls how straightforward interview rooms were during his time.
Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41
“An interview room is built just to do that – interview somebody,” Grant said. “It’s a table and chair, not really a lot a thought about providing anything beyond a location to conduct an interview.”
The Police Foundation supports projects intended improve the police department. It funded KCPD’s first soft room, and Grant says there’s already talk of a second room.
“This is innovative today,” Grant said. “We should have done this a long time ago. So when they brought us this concept, our response was, ‘Absolutely, let’s do it.’”
The police department works over 500 sexual assault cases a year.
Though the room was just unveiled Thursday, it’s a space hundreds of survivors will now be able to use.
“Imagine if you were a victim of something, and you’re having to come and tell law enforcement about the worst day of your life, and you step into this space, it’s not what you’re expecting,” Halterman said. “You are able to sit in a space that’s safe, warm and inviting as opposed to cold, stark and sterile and talk to law enforcement, who also are in a different frame of mind. They’re also not interrogating someone, they’re not in that same space that maybe they were two hours ago interrogating a really violent offender.”
The space includes new furniture, lamps, rugs, paint, artwork, plants, blankets and dim lighting.
“This is a part of accountability and a part of bringing the community back together,” Mallory said. “I think that this is also going to save lives.”
As someone who’s attempted to take their own life, Mallory says the mental health support for survivors goes far beyond the soft room.
“I think going further is bringing more mental health support into the interviewing process,” Mallory said. “There’s a lot of work that can happen, and include people who have that experience to advise on what the next steps can be. I’m more than willing to be that resource if they want to reach directly out.”
A resource Mallory says was crucial when he was seeking help was the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault, or MOSCA.
“I finally found that passion within me that I didn’t know that I had,” Mallory said. “I started speaking out, speaking up every time I see something, I say something.”
Mallory also says it’s important to remember how common sexual assault can be.
“Sexual assault doesn’t just happen to women, doesn’t just happen to men, it happens to trans people, nonbinary people,” Mallory said. “It happens to everybody. It doesn’t discriminate.”
So along with advocates like Halterman, Mallory will keep the conversation going so that safe spaces can grow and spread.
“Being able to be that vocal voice and be that leader that the community needs, I’m happy to be here,” Mallory said.
If you or anyone you know has been impacted by sexual violence and needs support, please call MOCSA’s 24-hour crisis line at 816-531-0233.
KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers Johnson County. She’s reported on the Chiefs’ decision to move its team facility to Olathe since the team made the announcement in December. That coverage has included amplifying the voices of residents who have different perspectives on the project, which has ranged from excitement to scrutiny. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan said Friday the team is drawing inspiration from recent team headquarters projects with the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys as they develop plans for their own new headquarters in Olathe.
In December, the club reached an agreement with Kansas officials to move across the state line. The agreement called for a $3 billion, domed stadium in western Kansas City, Kansas, and a new team headquarters and practice facility near Kansas Highway 10 and Ridgeview Road in Olathe.
Donovan’s remarks on Friday came during the Olathe Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center.
Elyse Schoenig/KSHB
The chamber’s theme for 2026, “Olathe Rising,” appears well-timed as the Chiefs work to build out their team headquarters vision.
Donovan said the team and its partners have been busy behind the scenes and hope to have updates on the project in the near future.
He said the club will look to work with the Olathe School District and the Olathe City Council in their plans.
The club is exploring a unique component to the facility by incorporating flag football into the project.
Flag football has been a priority of the club and the National Football League. The sport will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
In April, the Kansas State High School Athletics Association is set to vote on whether to sanction girls’ flag football as a high school varsity sport.
Funding for the club’s Olathe project will come in part from the sale of bonds paid for by certain sales tax revenues.
In February, the Olathe City Council approved participation in a STAR bonds district to build the team’s new headquarters and training facility at College Boulevard and Ridgeview Road.
Elsewhere on Friday, Kansas legislators introduced the Kansas Sports Authority Act. The act would create a nine-member board to oversee all aspects of sports facility construction.
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WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) – A former Kansas wrestling coach was charged with creating child sexual abuse materials by secretly recording minors showering during an athletic competition.
According to court documents, 37-year-old Ryan Brungardt of Salina is charged with two counts of production of child pornography and one count of attempted production of child pornography.
Brungardt is a former employee at Lakewood Middle School and former wrestling coach for Salina Central High School.
Brungardt is accused of using a cellphone to record three minors while they showered in a locker room during the Tournament of Champions, a wrestling tournament was held at Newton High in January 2024.
Brungardt made his initial court appearance for the criminal complaint on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooks G. Severson.
A detention hearing is scheduled for Monday
Investigators are in the process of reviewing additional seized cellphone videos in this case that are suspected to have been recorded at wrestling meets in Newton, Hays, Garden City and Salina during the 2023-2024 wrestling season.
Anyone who believes they witnessed crimes or any suspicious activity at these events is asked to contact the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at (785) 600-8790 or report at www.kbi.ks.gov/sar.
Copyright 2026 KWCH. All rights reserved. To report a correction or typo, please email news@kwch.com
TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Below is a look at the results from Wednesday night’s high school basketball sub-state semifinals in Northeast Kansas.
Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with what schools are hosting when that information becomes readily available.
WIBW Scoreboard
BOYS
6A Boys West Sub-State: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Topeka High 57, Washburn Rural 50 (will play Maize Saturday)
- Junction City 70, Dodge City 56 (will play Derby Saturday)
- Manhattan 58, Wichita-Northwest 56 (will play Wichita-East Saturday)
4A Boys East Sub-State: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Rock Creek 62, Louisberg 57 (will play Bishop Miege Saturday)
- Atchison 74, Wamego 43
- Hayden 72, Independence 56 (will play Atchison Saturday)
- Eudora 76, Santa Fe Trail 68
GIRLS
5A West Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Hays 80, Topeka West 18
- Eisenhower 55, Seaman 41
- Kapaun Mt. Carmel 71, Emporia 41
5A East Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Shawnee Heights 89, Sumner 15 (will play Pittsburg Saturday)
- Basehor-Linwood 74, Highland Park 28 (will play Piper Saturday)
3A Pomona-West Franklin Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Osage City 75, Columbus 31 (will play Frontenac Saturday)
3A Sabetha Girls: Wednesday’s sub-state semifinal results
- Silver Lake 48, Nemaha Central 26 (will play Riley County Saturday)
- Riley County 51, Jeff West 40 (will play Silver Lake)
Copyright 2026 WIBW. All rights reserved.
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