An 83-year-old Leavenworth County man has been convicted of sexual battery after a court accepted his no-contest plea in a case involving a girl under 18. David R. Thomas now faces sentencing on November 6, 2026, following the court's decision to treat his plea as a finding of guilt.
According to KMBC, Thomas was accused of inappropriately touching a female victim who was under 18 years old. Court records cited by the station allege that Thomas lifted the victim's shirt, placed money inside her bra, and later grabbed her breast.
The station's report notes that the court accepted Thomas' no-contest plea and found him guilty of sexual battery. Under Kansas law, as outlined by the Kansas Revisor of Statutes, a nolo contendere plea is a formal declaration that a defendant does not contest the charge, and if the court accepts that plea, a finding of guilty may be entered just as if the person had pleaded guilty outright.
What the No-Contest Plea Means Going Forward
A no-contest plea differs from an admission of guilt in that the defendant neither admits nor denies the charges against him. Still, once a Kansas court accepts such a plea, as it did in Thomas' case per the same account, the legal outcome functions the same as a guilty conviction heading into sentencing.
Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced on November 6, 2026, though the length or terms of any sentence have not yet been determined. The case, first reported locally by the Kansas City Star, remains pending final resolution until that hearing takes place.
