The Kansas City man charged with contaminating food at Leawood steakhouse Hereford House and possessing child sexual abuse material was sentenced Thursday.
Jace Hanson, will spend 11 years and four months in a correctional facility. Hanson was charged with 33 counts of criminal threat and child sexual exploitation. Hanson pleaded guilty to all counts in July. He did not receive any leniency in exchange for his plea.
Judge Thomas Kelly Ryan, who sentenced Hanson on Thursday, called Hanson “a future danger to the community.”
“You will come back out to the community,” Ryan said to Hanson. “And that’s concerning.”
In April of 2024, Hanson was arrested and charged with criminal threat, a felony charge for when someone adulterates or intentionally contaminates food or beverage.
Investigators searched Hanson’s phone after his arrest and found that he was in possession of videos depicting child sexual abuse and graphic messages about his desire to commit sexual violence to children.
“It was the most brutal and violent child sexual abuse material that I have ever seen,” Leawood Police detective Jack Bond testified in a previous hearing.
Most of the messages read in the sentencing hearing are too graphic to publish. One read: “I really want this life honestly, it’s the only thing I live for, working so I can hopefully do as much damage as I can someday.”
Hanson must register as a sex offender
Prosecutors then added 10 child sexual exploitation charges. Hanson will have to register as a sex offender and have lifelong supervision.
Hanson read a statement at his hearing, in which he apologized to his family, Hereford House patrons and coworkers.
“I would take it all back if I could,” he said.
Two members of his family, who both flew in from Wyoming for the hearing, were clearly emotional — occasionally crying or stepping out of the three-hour hearing. They sat directly behind Hanson who periodically turned to give them a sad smile.
Hanson’s attorney, Jeffrey Gedbow, asked the judge after the sentencing if Hanson could speak privately with his family. Ryan rejected the request.
Gedbow asked for a sentence of 68 months for Hanson, saying any more would be counterproductive to his rehabilitation.
Gedbow said Hanson, who has no other criminal history, “doesn’t know how to defend himself or take care of himself in prison.”
In his statement, Hanson said he was looking forward to taking advantage of the programs offered in prison. Hanson said he intends to continue his education, work on career planning and receive mental health treatment.
Hanson “singlehandedly” took out Hereford House’s Leawood location
The prosecution successfully asked the judge for the maximum sentence of 136 months. Assistant District Attorney Xavier Andrews said Hanson violated his employer’s trust and the trust of the restaurant’s patrons.
“He singlehandedly caused that location to close,” Andrews said.
As to the child sexual exploitation charges, the prosecution said Hanson would be a danger to any child he had access to.
Judge Ryan held up a binder that contained Hanson’s graphic messages.
“To use the term repulsive doesn’t begin to cover it,” he said.
At the beginning of the hearing, Mitch Fletcher, a forensic psychologist, gave testimony. Fletcher, who didn’t personally interview Hanson, but did review all the evidence against him, said the videos of child sexual abuse in Hanson’s possession were a 9 or 10 on a scale that rates the severity of child sex abuse images — the highest it could be.
Fletcher called the material “sadistic.”
Ryan said the prosecutors met the burden of proof for an upward departure sentence — meaning harsher than the standard sentencing guidelines. In this case — the maximum sentence of 68 months was doubled.
No victims gave testimony.
More on Hanson’s case
Police initially charged Hanson with a single count of criminal threat for his food contamination, which occurred between April 1-23, 2024.
Hanson began working at the restaurant the last week of March in 2024. He was in training to be a cook for the entirety of his employment at Hereford House. During that time, Hanson said he contaminated food about 20 times.
Hanson posted videos online of him urinating on food, rubbing food on his genitals and buttocks, and stepping on food, among other acts.
Hanson told investigators that he did so at the request of men he met online but also because he didn’t enjoy the job.
Leawood Police said test results came back indicating “no ongoing risk to patrons” for diseases.
According to Leawood Police, hundreds of Hereford House patrons called a tip line set up by investigators claiming to have gotten sick after eating at the restaurant during the time Hanson was employed there.
Hereford House closed its Leawood and Zona Rosa locations, saying news of Hanson’s actions caused financial strain. Multiple civil lawsuits filed against the restaurant are ongoing.
An anonymous tip to the FBI led to Hanson’s arrest. Someone saw the contamination videos online and alerted the FBI, who used IP addresses to connect the videos to Hanson. Shoes of Hanson’s were also consistent with ones depicted in three of the videos.
“I want to do better than I have in the past,” Hanson said.
