Two standout athletes from the Wichita area and a prized basketball recruit from Topeka have been charged with felony sexual exploitation of a minor.
Dylan Vincent, a former Eisenhower High basketball player, Dalyn Johnson, a former Maize football player, and Topeka-Hayden basketball player Zach Harvey were initially charged on Oct. 16, according to Sedgwick County juvenile court documents. The incident happened about March 23, 2017, in Sedgwick County, according to the documents.
Vincent, Johnson and Harvey are accused of having sexually explicit images or videos of a 15-year-old girl.
Calls to Vincent’s family and Vincent and Johnson’s attorneys’ offices were not immediately returned. Shara Horton, Johnson’s mother, had no comment on the charges.
Vincent was 17 at the time of the incident. Johnson was 16. Harvey, a high school junior who has received scholarship offers from numerous Division I basketball programs, including Kansas, Kansas State and UCLA, according to Rivals.com, was 16.
Pretrial hearings in the case have been pushed back several times. The next scheduled hearing in the matter is May 29.
Vincent and Harvey played the entire basketball season at their respective schools. Johnson did not play on Maize’s basketball team.
Eisenhower principal Christie Meyer said in February that she had no comment on whether she or the district was aware of the charges but said each player’s eligibility would depend on the specific situation.
“We look into it, talk to the appropriate people and go from there,” Meyer said. “In general, if a student is not convicted, we do not step in.
“… If there is evidence that we know about or that is impacting an educational environment, we could step in and address that.”
Meyer said the school does not get involved with incidents involving Eisenhower students that happen off school grounds.
“If a student is officially charged — arrested is different from being charged — found guilty or innocent, we receive documents from the court,” Maize principal Chris Botts said. “Just because a student is arrested does not mean he or she is guilty.”
Botts said, like at Eisenhower, Johnson’s penalty from athletics would depend on the specific situation. As of Oct. 16, when the charges were filed, the Maize football team still had two games to play. Johnson played in each of the school’s final two games.
Botts said he would not comment on who decided to allow Johnson to finish the season. He cited a Kansas statute stating such incidents could trigger a 180-day expulsion.
Vincent has signed to continue playing basketball at Hutchinson Junior College. He led the Wichita area in scoring-average per game with 25.8 points and helped lead Eisenhower to the No. 1 seed in the Class 5A state tournament.
Johnson has signed with Ottawa University as a running back. He helped Maize to an 11-2 record in football.
Harvey was recently named to the Eagle’s All-State basketball team.