Wichita man, 40, convicted of raping girl he called ‘wife’ gets life prison sentence
A 40-year-old Wichita man must serve life plus 570 months in prison for sexually assaulting a young girl starting when she was 9, a Sedgwick County judge ruled this week.
The man, Bryce Patrick Hanks, who was convicted of 12 crimes at his February trial including 10 felony assaults against the girl, will be in prison for a minimum of 72 1/2 years before he can be released. By that time, he would be well over 100 years old — longer than most people’s natural life.
The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office announced the sentence in a Friday news release. Hanks has maintained his innocence in court filings and has notified the court of his intent to file an appeal.
Court records say Hanks met the girl, who is now 18, when she was 8 years old and first started fondling her when she was 9.
The assaults happened so often that by the time she was 13, she was “just living with it,” an arrest affidavit released by the court says..
The girl told authorities Hanks raped her the first time shortly before her 14th birthday after he bought her a bra, insisted she model it and forced himself on her, the affidavit says.
After the assault, he called her his wife. He continued assaulting her regularly — weekly, she estimated — for at least two years and would refer to her as his spouse because he believed they were in a relationship and that is “what the lord would want,” the affidavit says. He also gave her money because he thought they were a couple, the document says.
Wichita police began investigating the case in 2020 after someone overheard the girl telling Hanks by phone that she didn’t want to have sex with him anymore, the affidavit says.
Prosecutors tried Hanks on a total of 15 crimes at his February trial. The jury found him guilty of four counts of rape, two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy, two counts of criminal sodomy and two offender registration violations.
He was acquitted of one count each of rape, aggravated criminal sodomy and furnishing alcohol to a minor, court records show.
Hanks’ lawyer, in a Feb. 21 motion, asked District Judge Tyler Roush to consider putting his client on probation, citing Hanks’ “willingness to abide by conditions” set by the court and “the need for family preservation.”
Roush refused and ordered the prison sentence.
