Sex offender accused of new molestation of Richland girl

Prosecutors now allege that a sex offender who wrote letters from jail to a young teen actually molested her before he was locked up.

Kevin L. Kron, 32, pleaded innocent recently in Benton County Superior Court to first-degree child molestation.

That’s in addition to his current felony charge of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

Defense attorney Caleb DiPeso said his client strongly objects to any waiver of his speedy trial right.

The trial currently is set for Feb. 6. Kron will return to court Thursday for a judge to determine if there is good cause for a delay so the defense has more time to prepare in light of the new allegations.

Kron said he wants DiPeso off his case, and he wants to withdraw his guilty plea for an unrelated 2015 first-degree molestation.

He had just started serving a minimum 8 1/2 -year prison sentence on that case when prosecutors filed the charge against him for writing suggestive letters to the teen.

Judge Alex Ekstrom said what Kron is proposing “is profoundly unwise,” and said he can address it at the next hearing.

Kron has a 2003 conviction for second-degree child rape for having sex with a middle school girl. He was a 17-year-old high school student at the time.

Kron initially was granted a sentencing alternative, which suspended the prison term in exchange for six months in jail and three years of treatment.

However, that sentence was revoked and he went to prison in December 2005 because he continued to have contact with underage girls and was kicked out of therapy for failing to make payments.

Then, in early 2015, a grade-school girl told her mother that Kron raped her more than once.

Kron pleaded guilty to child molestation and got his second 8 1/2 -year prison stint. His ultimate release on that case is up to a state board, based on Kron’s treatment and behavior, after he has served the mandatory minimum.

He was in the Benton County jail awaiting sentencing on that case when he allegedly sent inappropriate letters to a teen. Kron encouraged the girl to wait for him until he’s released from prison, because by then she will be 18.

The girl told her mother that he also called her from jail and threatened to kill her if she told anyone, documents said.

This story was originally published January 15, 2017 at 5:40 PM with the headline "Sex offender accused of new molestation of Richland girl."