A Lenexa man faces a new charge related to indecent liberties with a child while awaiting trial for an unrelated fatal hit-and-run accident.
On Nov. 7 in Johnson County District Court, Matthew Bray, 49, of Lenexa, was charged with one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child for allegedly fondling or touching a child under the age of 14, according to court documents.
The alleged crime occurred between Oct. 1, 2024, and June 23, 2025, according to court records. Judge Neil Foth is the presiding judge in the case.
While charged with that crime, Bray is also awaiting trial for charges filed in August related to a chain reaction hit-and-run crash on I-35 in the summer of 2024 that injured a woman and ultimately led to the death of an Olathe South High School teenager who had stopped to help.
Authorities say Bray caused the initial crash in that incident. He now faces one count of aggravated battery while driving under the influence and failure to stop at an accident resulting in great bodily harm, both felonies.
Bray is out on a $25,000 bond with conditions that include alcohol monitoring, no contact with the victim or victims and their family, no contact with children without a court order, no firearms and no use of controlled substances.
Bray allegedly made inappropriate contact with a minor
On June 23, 2024, a Johnson County Sheriff’s deputy responded to a call of a juvenile who was lost.
After the deputy located the child, who court records do not identify by name but say was born in 2014, the deputy drove the child back to her home address.
When they arrived at her home, the child told the deputy about an older man, later identified as Bray, who was staying at her grandfather’s home. While intoxicated, Bray made the child feel uncomfortable when he began touching her feet and asking her to send him a foot video, according to Johnson County court documents.
The girl told the deputy that she had seen him do similar things with Bray’s girlfriend’s daughter, who was around 8 or 9 years old, court documents stated.
Bray later communicated with the alleged victim via Facebook and asked her for a video of her feet, which she refused to do.
Upon hearing her testimony, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant for Bray’s Facebook account and discovered that he belonged to a number of foot fetish groups, court documents stated.
Bray is awaiting trial for a different charge
When Bray was charged with child sex crimes, he was already out on bond for a separate, unrelated incident.
On Aug. 13, he was charged in Johnson County District Court for one count of aggravated battery after he allegedly caused a crash while driving under the influence of alcohol and failing to stop at the scene of a crash that caused serious injury to another person.
At about 2 a.m. on July 27, 2024, investigators say Bray was driving a silver Kia Sorento at nearly 90 miles per hour on a stretch of I-35 in Merriam that has a 60-mile-per-hour speed limit when he struck a red Chevrolet Equinox, according to court documents.
The crash caused multiple injuries to the driver of the Equinox, including a laceration on their forehead and eyebrow, a broken nose and a pulmonary contusion.
As a result of the crash, their car was disabled on the left lane of traffic on the highway. Meanwhile, Bray fled the scene, court documents say.
As they were heading home, Benjamin “Ben” Van Buskirk, an Olathe South teen, and a friend saw the disabled vehicle and stopped to render aid. As Van Buskirk got out and ran to help the driver, a Jeep Liberty hit the Equinox and then drifted across the road, fatally striking Van Buskirk.
The driver of the Liberty, whose name was redacted in court documents, said they did not see the Equinox disabled on the road until it was too late to avoid striking it.
The Kansas Highway Patrol seized Bray’s vehicle
Later that morning, the Kansas Highway Patrol was able to locate and seize the Sorento that Bray was allegedly driving, which was registered to his mother.
After the car was taken away, Bray called the Kansas Highway Patrol and said he was the person involved in the crash.
A friend of Bray’s said hours before the crash, they were drinking with him at a bar in Belton, Missouri.
An associate of Bray’s said they spoke to Bray in the early hours before the crash and that he “seemed drunk during their interactions,” according to a Merriam police detective quoted in court documents.
Police also reviewed a recorded conversation on July 28, 2024, that Bray had with an inmate at the Johnson County Adult Detention Center, where he said he was “too drunk” to be driving before the crash.
What’s next
Bray is scheduled to make appearances in Johnson County District Court for both cases on Dec. 19.
