Inset: Jace Hanson (Johnson County Sheriff”s Department). Background: The steak restaurant where Hanson previously worked in Leawood, Kan. (Google Maps).
A Kansas man will spend over a decade behind bars after adulterating the food at the steak restaurant where he formerly worked.
In July, Jace Christian Hanson, 22, pleaded guilty to all 33 charges against him. Those charges stemmed from the defendant himself posting graphic videos of some of the incidents on the internet.
The charges included 22 counts of criminal threat, one count of criminal damage, and 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
On Thursday, Hanson was sentenced by a judge in Johnson County to 136 months – or just over 11 years – in state prison.
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The defendant was originally charged in June 2024, according to Kansas City, Missouri-based ABC affiliate KMBC.
At the time, authorities said they received a tip that he posted videos showing himself urinating on food and also rubbing food on his genitals while on the clock at the Hereford House restaurant in Leawood, a medium-sized city and part of the Kansas City metro area.
An FBI special agent later produced thumbnail images posted by a user with the handle “Vandalizer,” according to court documents obtained by Kansas City, Missouri-based Fox affiliate WDAF.
Those thumbnails showed a man urinating in bins and pressing food against his genitals, backside, and feet, court records show.
When questioned, the defendant readily admitted to the crimes – describing instances in which he relieved himself in Au Jus sauce and pickle jars and pressed his privates to pieces of salmon. In sum, the defendant estimated he behaved in such a way some 20 times.
The resulting investigation turned up videos depicting child sexual abuse and messages penned by the defendant about his desire to commit such crimes, according to the Johnson County Post.
One such message reportedly reads: “I really want this life honestly, it’s the only thing I live for, working so I can hopefully do as much damage as I can someday.”
“It was the most brutal and violent child sexual abuse material that I have ever seen,” Leawood Police Detective Jack Bond testified in a hearing earlier this year, according to the local newspaper.
The judge remarked negatively upon the defendant’s behavior during this week’s sentencing hearing – calling him a “future danger.”
“You will come back out to the community,” 10th Judicial District Judge Thomas Kelly Ryan said, addressing Hanson directly, according to a courtroom report by the Post. “And that’s concerning.”
The judge also waved a binder containing the evidence used in the case in the air in order to highlight the severity of the crimes.
“To use the term repulsive doesn’t begin to cover it,” Ryan said.
Hereford House is a woman-owned local chain of steakhouses that have served the two-state metro area since 1957.
In the aftermath of the man’s arrest, multiple lawsuits were filed against the restaurant, leading to the closure of the Leawood location.
“He singlehandedly caused that location to close,” Johnson County Assistant District Attorney Xavier Andrews said during the hearing.
The defendant, for his part, offered contrition during his allocution – apologizing to Hereford House patrons, coworkers, and his family.
“I would take it all back if I could,” Hanson said.
