Topeka City Councilman Jonathan Schumm resigns

Councilman says move is linked to agreement he reached with district attorney's office

By Tim Hrenchir

tim.hrenchir@cjonline.com

Topeka City Councilman Jonathan Schumm, who for five months has faced a charge of child abuse, announced Wednesday he was resigning his seat.

Schumm made the announcement near the end of Tuesday’s council meeting.

He said he was leaving office effective at noon Wednesday in order to best serve his family’s needs and honor an agreement he had reached with the Shawnee County District Attorney’s office.

Schumm’s voice shook with emotion as he added, “I am proud of what this council has accomplished and of my chance to serve District 4 and the entire city along each one of you.”

Mayor Larry Wolgast responded by speaking positively of Schumm’s contribution, saying the city was indebted and his service had been excellent.

Schumm was elected April 2015 to represent southeast Topeka’s District 4. He received 793 votes to 590 votes cast for opponent Les Parrish.

District Attorney Chad Taylor on Nov. 19 charged Schumm and his wife, Allison Nicole Schumm, with one count each of aggravated battery and, as an alternative, abuse of a child (torture or cruelly beating a child younger than 18), which is alleged to have occurred between Oct. 7 and Oct. 11.

Taylor additionally charged the Schumms with four counts of endangering a child, which is alleged to have occurred Oct. 31. Allison Schumm was charged with aiding Jonathan Schumm.

The Schumms had 17 children ranging from 1 year old to 20 years old, with five being biological, two in foster care and 10 adopted.

Taylor late last year initiated an ouster action seeking to remove Schumm from his council seat, alleging he “willfully engaged in misconduct” while serving as a councilman.

Taylor alleged Jonathan Schumm between Oct. 7 and 11 took the alleged aggravated battery victim into Jonathan Schumm’s bedroom, forced the child onto a bed face down, then retrieved a leather and metal belt to repeatedly strike the child, “causing lacerations to (the boy’s) eye and hand,” a court record said.

After that, prosecutors alleged, Jonathan Schumm rolled the child from his stomach onto his back and began choking him with both hands.

“While he was being strangled, (the boy) heard the defendant say that the next time he strangled (him) he would kill (him),” court records said.

Shawnee County District Court Judge Franklin Theis dismissed the ouster action Jan. 8 at the request of the district attorney’s office, which indicated it planned to refile the ouster action after the criminal case against Schumm was resolved.

Schumm continued over the past five months to be active on the council, winning election earlier this month as one of four city governing body members who are voting members on the board of directors of the Joint Economic Development Organization.

Before announcing his resignation near the end of Tuesday’s meeting, Schumm thanked fellow council members for “what we’ve accomplished” in the past year, saying they had taken steps that included solidifying the city budget, improving miles of streets, working to address the blight of abandoned houses, approving new contracts for police officers and firefighters and considering arranging for construction of a Kansas Turnpike interchange in southeast Topeka.

Schumm told his fellow governing body members he had been “incredibly blessed to form friendships with all nine of you.”

He added, “You have stood together and truly acted as a second family to me.”

Tim Hrenchir can be reached at (785) 295-1184 or tim.hrenchir@cjonline.com.
Follow Tim on Twitter @timhrenchir.