A former kitchen worker at the upscale Hereford House steakhouse in Leawood, Kansas, has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for contaminating restaurant food with his bodily fluids and posting videos of the acts online.
According to KCTV5, KSHB 41, and KMBC 9, Jace Hanson filmed himself under the username “Vandalizer” while urinating on food, spitting into containers, stomping on ingredients, and rubbing items on his body before they were served to customers. The FBI became involved after a tipster reported the videos, later forwarding the findings to Leawood police.
Hanson was arrested on April 25, 2024, and investigators determined that the contamination occurred between March 26 and April 25 of that year. He pleaded guilty on July 3, 2025, to 33 felony counts, including 22 counts of criminal threat, one count of criminal damage over $25,000, and 10 child exploitation charges, per KSHB 41 and KMBC 9.
Leawood Police Detective Jack Bond testified that investigators also uncovered child sexual abuse material on Hanson’s devices. “It was the most brutal and violent child sexual-abuse material that I have ever seen,” Bond told the court, according to the Johnson County Post, adding that he needed breaks while reviewing the files due to their disturbing content.
On October 9, 2025, a Johnson County judge handed Hanson the maximum possible sentence under Kansas law: 11 years and 4 months in prison.
The fallout for Hereford House was immediate. Co-owner Camellia Hill testified that business “plunged the minute it hit the press,” saying the scandal “basically destroyed our business,” per the Johnson County Post. The Leawood location closed on August 3, 2024, citing “financial strains caused by recent events,” according to KCTV5 and the Post.
By August 8, 2024, at least 13 civil lawsuits had been filed against the restaurant, and Leawood police had received nearly 400 food-poisoning complaints and conducted about 130 interviews — a surge that briefly overwhelmed the department’s records system, per the Post, KSHB 41, and KCTV5.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to connect with a certified crisis counselor.
