photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Kendrick Atkins appears at his preliminary hearing on Thursday, June 27, 2024, in Douglas County District Court. Atkins was charged with rape, human trafficking and numerous other sex crimes involving a 15-year-old girl.

A 15-year-old girl testified on Thursday that a 24-year-old man had given her cocaine in exchange for sex and that when he found out how old she was the sex only grew more violent.

The man, Kendrick Deandre Atkins, 25, is charged in Douglas County District Court with one count of rape, two counts of aggravated human trafficking, two counts of criminal sodomy and three counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, all felonies, according to charging documents. The charges relate to incidents that allegedly occurred on March 6 and 8 involving the same 15-year-old girl, as the Journal-World reported. Court records indicate additional charges were added after he was initially arrested.

Atkins was ordered by Judge Amy Hanley to stand trial on Thursday in connection with all eight charges. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges on July 19.

The girl testified that she was walking home from a gas station around 2 a.m. on March 6 when Atkins, whom she had never met, pulled up beside her. She said she had been struggling with fentanyl addiction and needed to “get away.” She said Atkins “hollered” at her and she approached him, hoping he might have some marijuana. Instead of weed, though, she said Atkins offered her cocaine.

“He sniffled and I knew that meant cocaine,” the girl testified.

She said she got in the car and spent the next few hours driving around snorting cocaine, drinking alcohol and having sex. She said she had told Atkins she was 18 and that the first time they stopped for sex was on the top floor of the Lawrence Public Library parking garage. She said she wasn’t sure where they stopped for sex the other two to three times.

At some point between the first sexual encounter and the last she said Atkins kept asking if she was actually 18 and she eventually admitted she was only 15. She said when she told him that he became possessive and more aggressive.

“The sex got more violent. It just got scarier. Then, he said ‘I was his now,'” the girl testified.

She said that during sex Atkins would put his hand around her throat making it hard for her to breathe.

Around 7 a.m. Atkins dropped the girl off near her home, but about 30 minutes later the girl was “freaking out” because it was the first time she had done cocaine. She said she called Atkins to come back over to calm her down and to give her more cocaine. Atkins agreed but told the girl that he would only give her more cocaine if she had sex with him again.

“I was freaking out. I was not OK. I asked for another line. He said ‘only if we have sex,'” the girl said.

She testified that Atkins came over after the girl’s mother had gone to work, and as soon as he arrived they had sex. When she asked for the cocaine he sent her out to his car to retrieve it and they did another couple of lines when she came back in. She said Atkins sent her to his car to get the drugs so he wouldn’t be seen by the neighbors. Atkins left soon after.

The next day the girl began messaging Atkins again for more cocaine, but it wasn’t until around 3 a.m. on March 8 that Atkins finally agreed to come over, the girl said. But this time Atkins wanted the girl to have sex with himself and one of his friends known to the girl only as “Q,” she said.

“He said that he had a friend and that I had to have sex with both of them,” the girl said.

She said she sneaked out of her bedroom window and met the men in Atkins’ car in a parking lot. She said that the three of them did some cocaine and that she and Atkins started having sex. She said Atkins was on top of her and the sex started to hurt and she told Atkins multiple times to “stop,” “no” and “ouch, get off.”

She said Atkins told her to “shut up” and that she should just “take it for Daddy.” She said he eventually stopped after she continued to tell him that it hurt. She said “Q” never said a word while they were in the car. Senior Assistant District Attorney Ricardo Leal asked the girl how many times she had to tell Atkins to stop.

“Too many,” the girl said.

The three of them then went to a gas station where the girl went inside to pay the cashier for the gas. When she came back out and got into the car a police officer came over. She said “Q” spoke to the officer and the officer left.

Atkins’ attorney, Hatem Chahine, asked why the girl didn’t run away, tell the cashier or tell the police officer. She said that she was too scared and that she didn’t know what Atkins might do to her. Atkins later dropped her off near her home.

The girl said she told her Narcotics Anonymous sponsor on the phone about the cocaine use two days later and her mother was in the room at that time. She said she then told her mother about being raped and they contacted law enforcement.

Atkins has been in custody since his arrest on March 21 and is being held on a $250,000 bond.