KANSAS CITY, Mo. – David M. Ketchmark, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that an Air Force Reservist who was residing at Whiteman Air Force Base while his wife was deployed to Afghanistan was indicted by a federal grand jury today for sexually abusing two minors.

Kenneth W. Vaughn, 25, of Warrensburg, Mo., was charged in a two-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo. Vaughn, a reservist who was employed at the base commissary, was married to an active duty Airman who was deployed to Afghanistan at the time the alleged violations occurred.

Today’s indictment charges Vaughn with two counts of sexually abusing two minors between May 1, 2011, and Sept. 8, 2011. Each of the two victims was between the ages of 12 and 16. According to the indictment, the sexual abuse occurred on the base, where Vaughn and his wife were living at that time.

Ketchmark cautioned that the charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick D. Daly and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Pierson. It was investigated by the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigation, the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corps and the Johnson County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

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