The Inman, Kan., police chief has been charged with more than a dozen sex crimes and two counts of battery after he was arrested Tuesday night.
Michael Leland Akins Jr., 38, has been charged in McPherson County District Court with 19 crimes, state officials said.
He is accused of abusing three girls and one boy under the age of 14.
The alleged crimes reportedly occurred between December 2008 and December 2009, Attorney General Steve Six said.
Akins is being held in the McPherson County jail, with bond set at $250,000.
"I'm sure Inman will be shocked," said Marci Penner, executive director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, which is based in rural McPherson County near the town of 1,250 residents.
Inman sits about halfway between McPherson and Hutchinson on K-61.
McPherson County Sheriff Larry Powell said Akins was arrested at his home at about 8:20 p.m. Tuesday following a week-long investigation.
"They had to use forced entry" to get into the house, Powell said.
Akins was hired as a police officer in Inman in 2005 and became police chief in January 2007, city officials said.
The town's one remaining full-time officer was named acting police chief at a special City Council meeting called this morning, Mayor John O'Brien said.
The arrest has set Inman abuzz, O'Brien said.
"It spreads pretty fast in a small town," he said.
Read more at Kansas.com