Convicted sex offender charged for writing girl from Benton County jail

A twice-convicted sex offender has been charged with a new crime for allegedly writing letters from the Benton County jail to a young teen girl about their “sleepovers.”

Kevin L. Kron, 31, was awaiting sentencing for molesting a grade-school girl when he wrote the letters.

He talked about cuddling with the teen and inappropriately touching her on at least one occasion, according to court documents.

He also encouraged the girl to wait for him until he’s released from prison, because by then she will be 18 and they can “do things together legally,” documents said.

Kron had been at the Washington Corrections Center in Shelton until his return to the Benton County jail earlier this month.

On Wednesday, he pleaded innocent in Benton County Superior Court to one felony count of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes.

However, Deputy Prosecutor Megan Whitmire anticipates filing additional charges. She asked Richland police to look into allegations of sexual contact between Kron and the teen in the past based on the letters.

Kron, whose trial is set for Feb. 6, had bail set at $100,000.

He also has a state Department of Corrections hold since he needs to go back to prison to serve out his minimum 8 1/2 -year sentence. It is an indeterminate sentence, which means his ultimate release will be up to a state board on reviewing his treatment and behavior while locked up.

Kron entered a guilty plea in August to one count of first-degree child molestation and was sentenced in October. The charge was reduced from two counts of first-degree rape of a child because the victim’s mother didn’t want her young daughter to testify at trial.

In that case, the grade-school girl disclosed to her mother in early 2015 that Kron had raped her on four occasions about a year before.

Kron was in prison doing a one-year sentence for a felony violation of a no-contact order when Kennewick detectives contacted him. He initially denied doing anything to the girl, then admitted touching her, but said it never escalated to rape, court documents said.

Later, after admitting the molestation in court, Kron did not express any remorse for the victim and claimed he just told the detectives what they wanted to hear, documents said.

Kron also has a 2003 conviction for second-degree rape of a child for having sex repeatedly with a middle school girl. He was a 17-year-old high school student at the time.

Kron initially was granted a Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative, which suspended his 8 1/2 -year prison term in exchange for six months in jail and three years of treatment.

However, he continued to have contact with underage girls during the next two years, including at martial arts classes, and was kicked out of sexual deviancy therapy for failing to make payments.

Kron’s alternative sentence was revoked in December 2005, and he went to prison for the first time.

One court record states that Kron had been accused in 2002 of having sex with three other young teen girls, but they refused to cooperate with police, so charges were never filed.

In the new case, Kron wrote this teen girl that “woman have always been crazy about him because he knows how to please them,” court documents said. He told the girl that he believes she has a crush on him “cuz of certain things that we did together whenever we were alone.”

Kron asked the girl not to get involved with other boys, and to wait to have sex until he is out of prison, documents said.

The girl told her mother about the letters she received between August and October. She reported that Kron also called her from jail and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about their conversations or shared the letters.

The teen told authorities that she is scared of Kron.

Kron’s earliest release date from prison on his child molestation conviction is October 2023.