Suspects in Death of Five-Year-Old Bound Over to District Court: Mother’s Bond Reduced

Two suspects charged with abuse leading to the death of a five-year-old boy have each waived their right to a preliminary hearing and had their cases bound over to Gage County District Court. While one suspect his being held without bond, the other suspect, the boy’s mother, has had her bond reduced. The mother is Heather Lorraine Peterson, age 30, of Liberty. She is charged with negligent child abuse resulting in death, a class 2A felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison; negligent child abuse, a class 12 misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine; and two counts of failure to report child abuse, a class 3 misdemeanor punishable by to three months in jail and a $500 fine for each count.Judge Jeffrey Gaertig, the presiding judge, reduced Peterson’s bond from $50,000 to $25,000 (10 percent). As of press time, the defendant remains in custody at the Washington County, Kansas, jail. The other suspect is Peterson's fiancé, Timothy Lee Erks, age 30, also of Liberty. He is charged with intentional child abuse resulting in death, a class 1B felony punishable by a minimum of 20 years and up to life in prison. He is also charged with two additional counts of intentional child abuse not resulting in injury, each a class 3A felony punishable by up to three years in prison, nine to 18 months of post-release supervision. Erks is currently on the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry as a 15-year registrant. He was convicted of third-degree sexual assault in Gage County on August 21, 2014, and sentenced to one year in jail.In 2016, Erks was charged with violating the Sex Offender Registry Act by failing to report a change of address as required. He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of obstructing government operations and was sentenced to 12 months of probation. In 2018, he was charged with two more counts of violating the Sex Offender Registry Act. Again, he pleaded guilty to obstructing government operations for each count and was sentenced to 24 months of probation. Bond was originally set at $1 million (10 percent). That was changed to a no-bond hold after the boy died. He remains in custody. According to investigators, the boy's one-and-a-half-year-old sister is also a victim. Because of the age of the victims, the affidavits for arrest are currently under seal.

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