By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
A 43-year-old Ellis man was sentenced to 24 months in prison Monday for threatening a law enforcement officer and an Ellis County couple in November 2024.
In a two-day February trial, it took an Ellis County jury less than an hour to find Nathan Harwick guilty on two felony charges, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and criminal threat.
Monday, Ellis County Chief District Judge Curtis Brown sentenced Harwick to 18 months for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and six months for criminal threat, with the sentences to run consecutively for a total of 24 months in prison with the Kansas Department of Corrections.
According to court testimony, on the morning of Nov. 27, 2024, Harwick made several social media posts threatening two members of the Ellis community.
Then Harwick, armed with the barrel of a shotgun, showed up at the residence of Chris and Rebecca Rorabaugh and walked up the couple’s driveway with the barrel in hand.
Ellis Chief of Police Avery Smith was present at the Rorabaugh residence when Harwick arrived on scene and took him into custody.
Following the jury’s verdict and again at Monday’s hearing, Harwick’s attorney, Mackenzie McCoy, put forward a motion for judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict.
A judgment of acquittal notwithstanding the verdict is a court order that allows the judge to set aside a guilty verdict and enter a judgment of acquittal.
In the motion, McCoy argued there was not enough evidence to convict Harwick of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer based on the facts of the case and the testimony of Chief Smith.
At trial, Smith testified he and Harwick were not close enough to each other for there to be the threat of bodily harm.
According to court documents, Smith physically measured the distance at about 43 feet.
Smith also testified there was not enough evidence to show a deadly weapon was used. He testified Harwick never brandished, held the barrel in a “threatening” manner or even pointed the barrel in Smith’s direction.
The defense argued there was not enough evidence to find that a deadly weapon was used and, because the barrel was not operable, there was no reason to believe the barrel could be used in a deadly manner at such a distance.
Judge Brown denied the motion for acquittal following the jury trial and again at the beginning of Monday’s sentencing.
If a person is convicted of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, Kansas law attaches a special sentencing rule, meaning a person convicted of the crime is likely to go to jail. Still, the judge can reduce the sentence to probation.
Harwick’s attorney made a motion Monday requesting he be sentenced to probation.
In the court filing, McCoy argued there were two reasons Harwick should receive probation.
The first was that “ordering the defendant to serve a prison sentence in this matter would not better serve community safety interests nor would it promote offender reformation.”
She said, “The defendant provides that this case stems from a set of unique circumstances that are not likely to occur in the future.”
McCoy said in her motion for probation that a day before the incident in November 2024, an alleged victim told Harwick that Rorabaugh had allegedly had sex with them and that he had allegedly sexually assaulted minor females during his teaching career.
Harwick claimed he believed that his sister, who was about the same age as the other alleged victims, could have also been victimized.
McCoy said that was the reason for the social media posts Harwick made and his actions on Nov. 27, 2024.
Two days after the incident, on Nov. 29, 2024, Harwick, while in custody, met with Chief Smith. During that interaction, Smith, according to court documents and his testimony during a preliminary hearing and at sentencing, let Harwick read narratives to police reports filed by alleged victims of Rorabaugh.
Smith testified the reports corroborated Harwick’s report.
Smith told Hays Post that those reports were from an Ellis County Sheriff’s Office investigation into Rorabaugh, but when asked about the existence of the reports and whether an investigation was conducted into Rorabaugh, Ellis County Sheriff Scott Braun said he was “unaware of any” investigation.
County Attorney Aaron Cunningham argued the court should not take any of Harwick’s claims into consideration because the defense is attempting to argue for “nullification.”
Cunningham also argued that Harwick should not be allowed to justify his actions based on the allegations against Rorabaugh.
He said allowing Harwick to serve probation would “signal to society that they can take matters into their own hands and do not need to use the established systems in place, which investigate and provide the accused with their day in court.”
Cunningham even went on to say at sentencing that Harwick’s actions that day led to Rorabaugh’s death.
Five days after Harwick confronted Rorabaugh, Chris Rorabaugh committed suicide.
Cunningham said, “A man is dead because of the defendant’s actions. A town lost a citizen, a wife lost her husband, and children lost their father. All because of a rumor the defendant heard, and jumping to several conclusions.
"Even if the allegations were true, the maxim 'two wrongs don't make a right' holds true. An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind," Cunningham said.
During his allocution, Harwick apologized to the Rorabaugh family and said, “They are the real victims.” He said he had not reached out to the family because of a no-contact order.
He said he did what he did that day to make a police report.
He also apologized to his mother for embarrassing her, adding he is “on a good path,” and he is no longer on medication, is gainfully employed and asked the court for a “second chance to be a productive member of society.”
Judge Brown ruled against sentencing Harwick to probation.
He said, “The jury rejected the idea that you wanted to make a police report (when he showed up at the Rorabaugh’s) and the court rejects that argument today.”
Brown echoed the words of Becky Rorabaugh in her victim statement and Cunningham in his motion against probation, that Harwick had not, in their eyes, shown any remorse for his actions that day.
Brown said, “You took justice into your own hands.”
He added, “I have not seen anything today that shows me you will be reformed.”
He then sentenced Harwick to 18 months in prison for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and six months for criminal threat. They will run consecutively for 24 months with the Department of Corrections.
He receives jail credit for 189 days served at the Ellis County Jail while awaiting trial and will be eligible for good-time credit.
Harwick’s defense was not allowed to introduce any information connected to the allegations of child sexual assault against Chris Rorabaugh during the trial.
In a motion in limine before the jury trial began, defense counsel McCoy moved to introduce the fact Harwick was told of the allegations, which is why he went to Rorabaugh’s home to confront him.
The defense in its motions sought “solely to explain defendant’s state of mind, motive and reason for going to the alleged victim’s residence on the date of the incident.”
McCoy added, the “defense believes that without the context of what the defendant had been told about the alleged victim’s conduct towards minors, the jury will be left with a materially misleading and incomplete narrative.”
According to court documents, the judge ruled against the defense’s motion, saying that the information was not relevant and such information would “risk inflaming the prejudices of the jury and possibly encouraging jury nullification.”
According to court documents, Harwick's defense counsel filed a notice to appeal with the appellate court on Tuesday, March 24.