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Topeka — Another top Kansas Lottery official has been fired or suspended, the latest casualty in a blossoming scandal.

Lottery and other sources confirmed Tuesday that the agency's administration director, Kevin Scott, was sent home late Monday.

Scott earned $61,000 a year. His duties included supervision of Richard Lee Knowlton, the agency computer expert jailed for allegedly tampering with lottery records to steal more than $62,000.

Scott, who lives in a gray two-story home in a southwest Topeka subdivision, declined to answer questions Tuesday about his status with the lottery.

"No comment," he said when asked about allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct within the department.

"No comment," he said when asked to confirm or deny his termination or suspension.

Former lottery workers familiar with Scott and Knowlton made statements to the Journal-World that lend some credence to assertions by Knowlton and his defense attorney, William Rork of Topeka. They say Knowlton wasn't stealing from the lottery, merely trying to demonstrate to agency officials that security was lax.

Concerns over PCs

Knowlton "felt very strongly about the fact that home PCs should not have access to the lottery's AS400 (computer) system. But Kevin Scott wanted to be able to work from home and (Director) Greg (Ziemak) gave Kevin whatever he wanted. I think there's more rats in this story," said one former employee.

"I know how much he (Knowlton) cared and how much he tried to get this stuff out in the open and no one would listen," the former employee said. "Do I agree with how he tried to do it? No. Do I think he's a thief? Absolutely not. I have a hard time believing he's responsible for $62,000 missing."

Rork said Tuesday that Scott and his wife, Sherri, another lottery employee, were escorted off agency property Monday.

"He's one of the guys Mr. Knowlton was complaining about," Rork said. "He had access to all the passwords and codes, and he's the one who added PCs to the system.

"He had access to the lottery's main computer from his PC at home and he controlled the password. That concerned my client a great deal, absolutely."

Ed Van Petten, the lottery's deputy executive director, called Rork's description of Scott and his wife being escorted from the lottery "an exaggeration."

Others pushed out

Van Petten told the Journal-World that Scott "is still listed as an employee. He is director of administration. He supervises the information/technology section as well as the finance sections. He was Mr. Knowlton's supervisor. That's all I'm going to say."

Van Petten acknowledged that personal computers are included in the lottery's computer system, but "you cannot gain access into the system from the outside."

Though he was suspended, former sales manager Bill Griffin was briefly kept on the payroll by lottery officials during a 1999 investigation of sexual harassment charges and other alleged irregularities. Griffin was subsequently fired. That investigation set the stage for the KBI probe that resulted in Knowlton's arrest.

Lottery Director Greg Ziemak, a Lawrence resident, was forced to resign by the Graves administration, but was allowed to stay on the payroll until Oct. 1.