HARVEY COUNTY — A Kansas felon with over a dozen previous convictions is going back to prison.
Earlier this month, Senior Judge Nancy Parrish sentenced a Matthew Ratzlaff, 38, of Burrton, Kansas to 301 months in the Kansas Department of Corrections. In August he pled guilty to Kidnapping and two counts of Aggravated Indecent Solicitation of a Child involving sexual crimes against a child under the age of 10, according to a media release from the Harvey County Attorney.
In addition to the time served in the Kansas Department of Corrections, Ratzlaff will be subject to lifetime post-release supervision and lifetime registration as a sexual offender. He has 17 previous convictions for burglary, aggravated burglary, theft, giving worthless checks, forgery and criminal use of a financial card, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Sex crimes committed against children in our community are some of the most terrible crimes we see committed and my office is dedicated to holding the offenders accountable while achieving justice for the most vulnerable members of our community.
The successful prosecution of this case was made possible with the dedicated assistance of the Halstead Police Department, USD 440, and the Heart to Heart Child Advocacy Center.