By the Associated Press
A former official with a western Kansas sheriff’s office has been arrested on charges of trafficking in child pornography and sex crimes involving children.
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says 62-year-old Blaine Dryden, of WaKenney, was arrested Wednesday on a warrant charging him with aggravated internet trading of child pornography and several counts of sexual exploitation of a child. Investigators say the alleged crimes occurred between November 2019 and last June, while Dryden was a lieutenant with the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office.
Dryden was placed on administrative leave when the department learned of the investigation, and his employment with the office ended in July. Dryden is being held in the Graham County Jail on $750,000 bond.
