Child abuse in Douglas County is more common than in most Kansas counties, according to a new report.

According to the Kids Count survey by the Kansas Action for Children agency, there were 92.4 reported cases of child abuse or neglect per 1,000 children in 2004 in Douglas County, a 21 percent increase from the previous year.

The number of substantiated reports was much smaller – 12.1 per 1,000 children – and actually decreased slightly from 2003. Even so, experts say child abuse remains largely a hidden problem.

“I think there is much less denial here than there may be in other places,” said District Court Judge Jean Shepherd, who handles family-related court cases.

“But I still think it is hard for people to grasp that in this college town, there are children who are hungry every night, there are children who sleep with their parents in cars, and that there are children who are sexually abused and physically abused.”

Death in Douglas County

There have been some deadly cases of child abuse recently in Douglas County.

Opening statements are expected this morning in the trial of Jay D. Decker, 27, who is charged with killing 5-month-old Risha J. Lafferty in October 2005 through repeated abuse. When Risha was found dead at Edgewood Homes, 1600 Haskell Ave., she had a fractured skull, 35 bruises or other external injuries, and signs of being shaken, according to testimony.

The baby’s mother, Brandi Mae Hendrickson, also has been charged with child endangerment for not reporting injuries Risha suffered in the days before the baby’s death while Decker was watching her.

Decker stood trial previously this summer, but it ended in a mistrial on the last day when a police interview surfaced that hadn’t been sent to prosecutors.

In March, Jason W. Dillon was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for second-degree murder and child abuse for the death of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter on June 18, 2005, in Lawrence.

Dillon, who lived with Rachel and Sydni Perkins in the 1100 block of George Court in northern Lawrence, was baby-sitting Sydni the day of her death after being out all night at a friend’s birthday party in Kansas City. When Rachel Perkins got home from work about 5 p.m., she found her child alive but unresponsive, and Dillon told her she had fallen in the bath.

Eventually, Dillon admitted to police that during the day he knocked Sydni to the ground, shook her when she refused to help him pick up laundry and finally struck her in the back of the head with his hand 13 or 14 times after she told him she didn’t want him to be her daddy anymore.

‘Spectrum of behaviors’

The Kids Count survey came out this summer, but earlier this month the Kansas Health Foundation and Kansas State University’s journalism school crunched some of the numbers in the report to call attention to county-by-county child abuse rates.

Among all 105 Kansas counties, Douglas County had the 19th highest rate of reported child abuse in 2004. The lowest was Washington County, with 11.5 reports per 1,000 children.

“Those reports cover an enormous spectrum of behaviors ranging from a child who shows up at school with an unexplained bruise to divorced custody disputes : to physical abuse and various kinds of neglect, failure to thrive issues with babies and mental health issues with kids,” Shepherd said. “I think that reporting is good.

“Simply because a report is filed does not mean a child will be removed. It does not mean a case will be opened. What it could mean for that family is that someone will direct them to financial assistance, to help so that the child doesn’t have to be removed.”

Douglas County had the 35th highest rate of substantiated child-abuse reports with 12.1 per 1,000 children. Seven Kansas counties – Clark, Comanche, Hodgeman, Kearny, Meade, Scott and Stevens – had no substantiated cases.