TOPEKA, Kan. — A former corrections officer entrusted with supervising young people at the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex has pleaded guilty to soliciting a 15-year-old girl who was incarcerated at the facility.
Deandre L. Steele, 31, pleaded guilty Monday, September 28, in Shawnee County District Court to indecent solicitation of a child involving committing or submitting to an unlawful sexual act, a Level 6 person felony under Kansas law.
Prosecutors alleged Steele solicited the 15-year-old between November 2025 and January 2026, while Steele was employed at the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex at 1430 NW 25th Street in Topeka.
This is no longer merely an allegation that Steele solicited the girl: he has pleaded guilty to the offense.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed a separate charge of attempted unlawful sexual relations by a Department of Corrections employee with a juvenile corrections inmate. Kansas law specifically criminalizes sexual relationships between corrections employees and inmates because of the authority and custodial relationship involved.
A 15-year-old was in the state’s custody
That fact deserves attention.
Whatever brought this teenager into the juvenile justice system, she was 15 years old and in the custody of an institution whose employees were responsible for her supervision and safety.
The allegations were reported to authorities in January. Special agents with the Kansas Department of Corrections investigated, and the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office subsequently prosecuted Steele. AOL.com
For parents and members of the Topeka community, the case presents an uncomfortable but straightforward question: What safeguards are in place to protect children in state custody from the very adults entrusted with supervising them?
That question becomes even more important as Steele approaches sentencing.
Probation may be possible
Steele will be sentenced by Shawnee County District Judge Bill Ossmann at 11 a.m. November 13.
The offense is a Level 6 person felony. According to current reporting, Kansas sentencing guidelines could make probation the presumptive disposition if Steele has no prior felony convictions; his actual sentence will depend on his criminal-history score and the court’s application of Kansas sentencing law.
For some in the community, the possibility that a corrections officer could solicit a 15-year-old inmate and ultimately receive probation will undoubtedly be difficult to accept.
But the sentence has not yet been imposed, and it would be premature to report that Steele will avoid incarceration.
What is established is serious enough: an adult corrections officer has admitted in court that he solicited a 15-year-old child for an unlawful sexual act while she was confined in the institution where he worked.
The community now waits to see what consequences follow.
This Is Topeka will follow Steele’s November 13 sentencing and any additional information released concerning how the conduct was discovered and what changes, if any, have been made at the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex.
