Kansas prison dental instructor’s conviction overturned

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – A Kansas appeals court has overturned the conviction of a former state prison dentist who repeatedly touched a prison inmate.

The appeals court ruled last week that Tomas Co’s repeated touching of the inmate was inappropriate but did not meet the legal definition of being lewd.

Co was convicted in January 2020 of having unlawful sexual relations with the woman while he supervised a dental lab at Topeka Correctional Facility. Prosecutors alleged

Co molested six inmates at the women’s prison between 2011 and 2018 but he was found guilty on only one count. Co left his job at the prison in 2018.