Former Wyandotte County sheriff’s deputy sentenced to life for child sex crimes

A former Wyandotte County sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to life in prison for child sex crimes, the district attorney’s office announced on May 27.

Michael Mastel, who began working for the sheriff’s office in 2010, was originally charged in 2019 with rape, aggravated criminal sodomy and three counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

On April 8, a jury found Mastel guilty of rape and three counts of sexual exploitation of a child. The fifth charge was dismissed.

The charges were brought against Mastel when the victim came forward in 2019 and were related to incidents that started in 2011 and continued until 2018, according to the victim’s testimony.

The victim testified in 2019 that she had been abused since she was around six years old. According to testimony, Mastel regularly raped the child and touched her inappropriately, once forcing her to perform oral sex.

Mastel knew the victim through his personal life not through his role at the sheriff’s office, according to testimony.

The sheriff’s office was first made aware of the allegations in October 2018. The office handed the investigation over to the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department so it could be handled with transparency, the Wyandotte County district attorney said at the time.