2014 Dec 05: Young and State enter plea bargain to avoid another trial

According to the 2012 appeal, in the autumn of 2007 a foreign exchange student from South-Korea came forward and accused Richard Young, his host-father, of sexual abuse.

Young had hosted students several times through the exchange organization, Face The World Foundation (FTWF). He was the host-parent of this exchange student. Before arrival the two had contact and the student claimed Young “was obsessed with the sexual interests by teenagers.” At one time the student had been asked to send nude photograph of himself to Young. Upon arrival, August 1, Young continued talking about masturbation and teen sex. The first evening the student was given vaseline and tissue and encouraged the student to masturbate.

The talk about sex was kept up and Young kept on asking the student if he was gay. After grooming the student, Young touched the student’s genitals. At that time the boy was told to undress. They both laid down naked, and Young continued to touch the boy. Young told the boy not to speak to anyone of what had happened.

Young instigated another fondling session. This time the student was able to tell Young that he did not want this kind of behavior to continue. After that Young stopped.

At school, the exchange student’s behavior changed. The older exchange student also living with Young claimed the boy must be bipolar. So, that is what the boy said of his changed behavior. The boy did not speak of what had happened. Groomed people seldom do. The school became more and more concerned and contacted FTWF. Chaple sent the student to a psychologist. After that the exchange organization decided the student must return to South-Korea.

The exchange organization sent the student out of Kansas, and he stayed in Philadelphia with a friend of his family. The exchange organization representative, Connie Chaple,  told the exchange student he had to leave the country in two weeks. They boy told his father about the abuse and the father advised the student to get a lawyer.

However, Young was arrested and his house searched. Young was a frequent visitor of Asian gay and hetero porn sites. Young did not speak up in his own defence. He was convicted of three counts of indecent liberties with a child and one count of indecent solicitation of a child.

In 2011 Young appealed the conviction and February 2012 it was overturned. Young claimed evidence regarding his earlier abuse of three step-sons had been wrongfully admitted. The Judge overturned the 2008 verdict because of improperly admitted evidence.

The State Attorney sought a review of the decision with the Kansas Supreme Court. According to Fred Gough with Hutchinson News, Kansas Supreme Court summarily reverse the 2012 ruling and sent the case back to the Court of Appeals. To avoid a new trial, a plea deal was entered December 2014 and Richard Young completed his sentence November 2014.

Helpline US Department of State

1-866-283-9090 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) The Department of State activated the helpline to ensure the health and safety of its exchange participants. Students have a right to be treated fairly and to report abuse without retaliation or threat of program cancellation. (Dep of State)

Blind trust in exchange organisations

You would not send your child to a house at the end of your street if you knew nothing about the person living there. Yet on the strength of a glossy brochure, the payment in some cases of vast sums of money, and an assumption that someone else has asked the right questions, we send our children thousands of miles across the world to stay with strangers.

The companies, organisations and individuals that abuse this blind trust cannot be allowed to continue to profit from it and we must all take responsibility for the care and safety of our young people. (Chris Gould)