A former Johnson County government employee is headed to jail after admitting he sexually exploited children, with court records showing he'll serve 60 days behind bars followed by house arrest and years of court supervision. Christopher Wehunt, who worked as a communications technician for the county, pleaded guilty in June to two counts tied to a case that first surfaced when his own employer flagged suspicious behavior in 2024.
According to The Kansas City Star, Wehunt pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child in Johnson County District Court as part of a plea deal. One charge related to promoting the performance of a child under the age of 18, while the other involved possession of visual media of a child under 18 engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss a third sexual exploitation count as part of the agreement, per the same report. Robb Edmonds represented Wehunt as his attorney, the Star noted.
What the Plea Deal Resolved
The dismissed count mirrored one of the charges Wehunt pleaded guilty to — sexual exploitation of a child by promoting the performance of a child under 18 — according to fox4kc.com. That outlet reported Wehunt was ordered to serve 60 days in jail before being released to serve another 60 days of house arrest, followed by five years of probation. The Star's reporting on the sentencing aligns with those terms, describing two months of incarceration, 60 days of shock jail time at the Johnson County Adult Detention Center, 60 days of house arrest with an allowance for work release, and five years of probation, all according to court records.
The case dates back to alleged conduct between Aug. 1 and Oct. 11, 2024, according to court documents cited by kshb.com. Fox4kc.com reported that Snapchat records showed conversations between Wehunt and underage girls began on Aug. 1, 2024. Investigators said Wehunt told them he had asked around 10 girls between the ages of 13 and 17 for nude images or videos, the station reported, and that in one instance he allegedly asked a 16-year-old for nude photos 20 times over the course of a week.
How the Case Came to Light
The Johnson County Government Human Resources Department reached out to the sheriff's office in September 2024 to report suspected illegal activity by a government employee, fox4kc.com reported. Wehunt was fired the following month, in October 2024, according to the same report. Kshb.com reported that Wehunt worked in the county's Department of Emergency Services/Emergency Communications Center from Jan. 16, 2015, through Oct. 21, 2024 — though the Johnson County Post separately reported his tenure in the county's emergency communications center ran from Jan. 1, 2015, until the same October 2024 end date.
Bond details reported around the time of Wehunt's arrest also diverge between outlets. The Johnson County Post reported that Wehunt was released on a $20,000 bond on April 14, while kshb.com reported he remained in custody on a $50,000 bond following a video arraignment.
The Legal Framework Behind the Charges
The charges against Wehunt fall under Kansas's sexual exploitation of a child statute, which the Kansas Legislature states covers employing, using, persuading, inducing, enticing or coercing a child under 18 in prohibited conduct. The available statutory excerpt does not specify which exact subsections applied to Wehunt's particular convictions.
Wehunt's case moved from an initial three-count charge to a resolution built on two guilty pleas and one dismissed count, closing out a prosecution that began with a tip from his own former employer. The sentencing terms — jail time, house arrest with work-release allowance, and five years of probation — now stand as the final court-ordered outcome in a case that spanned roughly two years from the alleged conduct to its resolution.
