During its 10 p.m. broadcast of October 4 and its 5 a.m. broadcast of October 5, KMGH 7News reported on the scheduled court appearance of sexual-assault suspect Randal Ankeney without identifying him as a former Colorado Republican Party activist. After his 2001 arrest for attempted sexual assault on a child, for which he served two years in prison, Ankeney resigned from the administration of Republican Gov. Bill Owens.

Reporting on Ankeney's second arrest in December 2001, with the headline “GOP Activist Accused Of Assaulting Another Girl,” 7News stated in an online report that he had “worked as a volunteer on several local politicians' campaigns. Last year, Gov. Bill Owens appointed Ankeney as a business development representative in the Colorado Springs branch of the state Office of Economic Development. Ankeney resigned July 31, a day before he was arrested.” Other 2001 news reports on Ankeney's arrest identified him as a “Republican activist,” including an August 9, 2001, Rocky Mountain News article by John Sanko reporting that Ankeney, who was "[o]ne of the governor's economic development representatives in Colorado Springs" and “had worked as a regional representative since November, resigned from his $63,000-a-year job effective July 31” after his arrest “for sexual assault on a 13-year-old girl he allegedly met through an Internet chat room.” And a December 27, 2001, Westword article described Ankeney as a “well-known El Paso County ”Republican activist [who was] accused of providing drugs and alcohol to the girl and photographing her topless."

As Colorado Media Matters has noted, KDVR 's Fox News at Nine O'Clock and KUSA's 9News at 10 p.m. on September 26 also failed to report Ankeney's former political ties during reports of his recent arrest. In contrast, Colorado Springs CBS affiliate KKTV's 10 p.m. broadcast on the same day identified Ankeney as a “Republican activist.”

On the October 4 broadcast of 7News at 10 p.m., co-anchor Anne Trujillo reported that “Ankeney is now facing charges in two other cases for sexually assaulting a child: one in Arapahoe County back in January, the most recent one in Larimer County.” Turning the story over to reporter Theresa Marchetta, Trujillo said, “And, Theresa, word about his history spread fast when Ankeney moved in.” Marchetta, reporting live from Ankeney's Highlands Ranch neighborhood, explained that neighbors had circulated a criminal profile of Ankeney from the state's sex-offender registry when he moved into the neighborhood.

On the October 5 7News morning broadcast, anchor Bertha Lynn reported that Ankeney, identified only as “a convicted sex offender,” would make his first court appearance that morning in Larimer County.

From the October 4 broadcast of 7News at 10 p.m.:

TRUJILLO: And, new tonight, a convicted sex offender who's been living in Highlands Ranch is now in trouble again. Randal Ankeney is now facing charges in two other cases for sexually assaulting a child: one in Arapahoe County back in January, the most recent one in Larimer County. 7News anchor Theresa Marchetta's live tonight in Highlands Ranch. And, Theresa, word about his history spread fast when Ankeney moved in.

MARCHETTA: That's right, Anne. In fact, neighbors were on top of this when Randy Ankeney moved into this house behind me. They printed off his profile from the Douglas County sex-offender registry. They also printed out details of two incidents involving teens in Colorado Springs. They circulated these throughout the neighborhood. That was back in March, and still, despite all that, they were shocked to hear about these latest allegations.

SHEILA RUEGGE [neighbor]: It's fear, it's outrage, it's disbelief.

MARCHETTA: That's the reaction throughout Highlands Ranch as word spreads that registered sex offender Randal Ankeney was arrested at this home last week.

RUEGGE: The street that he lives on and neighborhood that he lives in, there is a kid every other house.

LANCE CLEM [Colorado Bureau of Investigation spokesman]: This guy was a particularly odious offender. And it goes to show you that these people can live in any community, any part of the state and be just as nasty as the worst guy that you've ever seen anywhere else.

MARCHETTA: Douglas County sheriffs and Colorado Bureau of Investigation officers arrested Ankeney on multiple felony counts of sexual assault on a child, sexual exploitation of a child, and child enticement.

TANYA CREIGHTON [neighbor]: Sadly, I wasn't very surprised.

MARCHETTA: Tanya Creighton, like many parents we spoke with, didn't want to be shown on camera but says Ankeney is only one of many child predators living near Highlands Ranch children.

CREIGHTON: I started looking on the registry, the sex-offender registry, and found that there were three living in the same house across the street from Eldorado Elementary, which was a huge concern.

MARCHETTA: It's a concern, but it's not illegal. Ankeney lived just two blocks away from an elementary school, Bear Canyon, which is literally just down the street here. There are no proximity laws in Colorado, so, basically, sex offenders can live anywhere they want to, and that is something many of the parents we spoke with say they want to see changed. Live at Highlands Ranch, Theresa Marchetta, 7News.

TRUJILLO: Thanks, Theresa. And Randal Ankeney is being held tonight in Larimer County jail on one million dollars bond. He is due in court tomorrow.

From the October 5 broadcast of 7News at 5 a.m.:

BERTHA LYNN: A convicted sex offender faces charges in Arapahoe County and now is under arrest in Larimer County on new charges. Thirty-six-year-old Randal Ankeney was arrested at a Highlands Ranch home last week on numerous felony child sexual assault charges. Many neighbors say they knew he was a convicted sex offender and tell us they never felt safe after he moved in.

SHEILA RUEGGE [neighbor]: Trapped. They feel trapped. They feel trapped in their own homes.

LANCE CLEM [Colorado Bureau of Investigation spokesman]: This guy was a particularly odious offender. And it goes to show you that these people can live in any community, any part of the state and be just as nasty as the worst guy that you've ever seen anywhere else.

LYNN: Ankeney is being held at the Larimer County jail on one million dollars bond. Details in the latest case have been sealed. His first court appearance in Larimer County will be later on this morning.