Dozens of additional charges have been filed against a man accused of intentionally contaminating food at Hereford House in Leawood.
An amended complaint filed on Tuesday in Johnson County District Court against Jace Hanson, 21, shows the Kansas City man now faces a total of 33 felony counts, including 10 child sexual exploitation charges for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse materials.
In addition, Hanson now faces 22 counts of making a criminal threat related to allegedly contaminating food at the steakhouse and one count for criminal damage.
Previously, Hanson was charged with a single count of criminal threat in Johnson County District Court for the alleged intentional food contamination.
The new court documents state that Hanson was allegedly contaminating food at the restaurant between April 1 and 23.
Dan Miller, an attorney for Hanson, could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday morning.
A preliminary hearing for Hanson is set for 4 p.m. on Thursday in Johnson County District Court.
Alleged food contamination took place in April
Previously, Hanson was charged last month with one felony count for intentionally contaminating food after investigators say he urinated and rubbed his genitals on food at Hereford House and posted videos of himself doing so online.
According to a criminal affidavit filed in the case, Hanson admitted to the acts to investigators, saying he did so at the request of men he had met online through apps like Grindr and Sniffy’s who wanted Hanson to make videos of him contaminating food.
“When asked if he was aware of any food contamination, Hanson stated, ‘I’ll just be straight up, yeah,’” the affidavit states. “Hanson added that he’s “just been doing stupid (expletive).’”
The affidavit says Hanson told investigators he contaminated food roughly 20 times in April, with the first occurrence coming about a week and a half after he first started working at Hereford House in the last week of March.
On May 15, Leawood Police said that test results for Hanson came back indicating “no ongoing risk to patrons” for diseases.
Lawsuits are piling up against Hereford House
After putting out a request for responses from customers who ate at the restaurant during the dates Hanson worked at Hereford House, Leawood Police stated more than 330 people have reached out to them.
Currently, there are five civil lawsuits filed against Hereford House by people who say they fell ill after eating at the iconic steakhouse in the timeframe Hanson was allegedly contaminating food.
Those lawsuits all accuse Hereford House of negligence in hiring, training and monitoring Hanson, as well as a breach of implied warranty by serving tainted food.
Once Hanson was taken into custody, “[Hereford House] immediately took all measures and steps to thoroughly clean and sanitize the kitchen in accordance with health department guidelines,” Hereford House previously stated in a press release.
Hanson remains in custody at the Johnson County Adult Detention Center in New Century on $100,000 bond.
