Cody no longer licensed, but Womochil is
Staff writer
Former Marion police chief Gideon Cody’s provisional Kansas police certification has not been active since Oct. 2 — the day his resignation was announced.
Doug Schroeder, executive director of Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training, said Cody’s certification was inactivated because Cody resigned.
“When an individual separates employment as a law enforcement officer prior to completing a basic training program, their Kansas certification is inactivated for one year,” Schroeder said. “After one year, the individual could apply for another provisional license unless action is taken within that year that would cause CPOST to deny another provisional.”
Another former officer in Marion County has not yet been investigated by CPOST although he is charged in both state and federal courts on allegations of child sex crimes.
“We won’t want to conduct interviews until that criminal investigation has completed,” Schroeder earlier explained. “If we know there is an ongoing criminal investigation, we want to maintain the integrity of that. We wait for that to conclude before we do any investigation.”
Former Burns police chief, Marion County Sheriff’s deputy, and Butler County jailer Joel J. Womochil’s Kansas certification remains active.
Womochil was charged in Aug. 16 in Butler County District Court with 13 counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Those charges were amended in September to add 21 additional counts, including 10 counts of aggravated Internet trading in child pornography and 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
When Womochil was charged in federal court with knowingly receiving child pornography and possession of child pornography, Butler County amended its charges back to the original 13 counts.
The federal court has now charged Womochil, Jessica L. Quave, Taylor Mullin, and Denise R. Yoder in relation to the crimes.
According to court documents, Mullen is charged with one count of production of child pornography for allegedly making videos of Quave engaging in sexually explicit conduct with a minor.
Mullen allegedly admitted he knew Quave was recording herself sexually abusing a child and assisted her with recording.
Womochil is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child by production of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and distribution of child pornography.
Quave is charged with conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child by production of child pornography and sexual exploitation of a child by production of child pornography.
According to an affidavit filed in the case, Quave and Mullen produced the videos at Womochil’s direction at their home in Council Grove.
Yoder is charged with conspiracy to commit sexual exploitation of a child by production of child pornography and three counts of sexual exploitation of a child by production of child pornography.
Womochil was a Marion County deputy from March 2020 until November 2022. He resigned Aug. 8 as police chief for Burns.
A complaint filed in the case alleges that he was in possession of the videos from Aug. 9 to 25.
“I find it necessary to step down at this juncture,” Womochil wrote in a resignation letter he handed to Burns city council members Aug. 8 and read aloud. “Recent events have made me reflect on my responsibilities as a leader and the impact my decisions have on the lives of others.”