Hilliker pleads guilty to charges in child endangerment
Hilliker was arrested along with Dessa Barton, Katherine Kost, and William McLendon November. Barton, Kost and McClendon remain incarcerated, awaiting trial dates.
March 11, 2021
Richard Hilliker, 52, from the Phelps County area, pled guilty to felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child based on an investigation by the Stone County Sheriff’s Department last fall. Hilliker was arrested on November 19, 2020, and had remained in the Stone County jail until his guilty plea on March 1 of this year.
Circuit Judge David Cole asked the prosecution to describe the factual basis for the child endangerment charges during the guilty plea proceedings. Stone County Prosecuting Attorney, Matt Selby, told the court that on November 6, 2020, deputies were sent to 5119 State Highway K based on a 911 call regarding a non-responsive child. Medical personnel was also sent to the scene while the 911 operator had the child’s family begin performing CPR on the four-year child.
Paramedics arrived shortly afterward and took over the medical procedure. The child was taken by paramedics to a landing site and then by helicopter to a Springfield hospital. From there, he was taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.
During this process, the child had to be revived multiple times.
Medical personnel observed that the child suffered from extreme malnutrition, had bruising over much of his body, and was very lethargic. They also stated that the bruising was not consistent with self-harming on the part of the child or with typical childhood falls or accidents.
Stone County detectives began investigating that the child had been living at the Highway K residence for several months. That investigation revealed that there had been a similar episode about a week before in which the child had become non-responsive but managed to come out of it.
No one in the household sought medical attention for the child at that time. The child, who was almost five years old and weighed twenty-six pounds at the time of his hospitalization, had not been taken to a doctor for months.
This defendant, Richard Hilliker, had been staying at the house regularly for a couple of months prior to November 6. He was interviewed and admitted that he was aware of medical issues with the child, that the child had been subjected to abusive acts from others in the household, and needed medical attention. He also admitted that he was aware that the child was being kept in a crate outside the house and tried to get the others to stop doing locking the child up.
Based on the investigation, including the defendant’s statements, Selby filed child endangerment and child abuse charges on him. A preliminary hearing was held on December 22, 2020, in which the State presented evidence outlining much of the case, including the facts stated above.
The defendant was bound over to Circuit Court and pled guilty on March 1. Judge Cole sentenced the defendant to five years in prison for his role in the situation.
Richard Hilliker, 52, from the Phelps County area, pled guilty to felony charges of endangering the welfare of a child based on an investigation by the Stone County Sheriff’s Department last fall. Hilliker was arrested on November 19, 2020, and had remained in the Stone County jail until his guilty plea on March 1 of this year.
Circuit Judge David Cole asked the prosecution to describe the factual basis for the child endangerment charges during the guilty plea proceedings. Stone County Prosecuting Attorney, Matt Selby, told the court that on November 6, 2020, deputies were sent to 5119 State Highway K based on a 911 call regarding a non-responsive child. Medical personnel was also sent to the scene while the 911 operator had the child’s family begin performing CPR on the four-year child.
Paramedics arrived shortly afterward and took over the medical procedure. The child was taken by paramedics to a landing site and then by helicopter to a Springfield hospital. From there, he was taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City.
During this process, the child had to be revived multiple times.
Medical personnel observed that the child suffered from extreme malnutrition, had bruising over much of his body, and was very lethargic. They also stated that the bruising was not consistent with self-harming on the part of the child or with typical childhood falls or accidents.
Stone County detectives began investigating that the child had been living at the Highway K residence for several months. That investigation revealed that there had been a similar episode about a week before in which the child had become non-responsive but managed to come out of it.
No one in the household sought medical attention for the child at that time. The child, who was almost five years old and weighed twenty-six pounds at the time of his hospitalization, had not been taken to a doctor for months.
This defendant, Richard Hilliker, had been staying at the house regularly for a couple of months prior to November 6. He was interviewed and admitted that he was aware of medical issues with the child, that the child had been subjected to abusive acts from others in the household, and needed medical attention. He also admitted that he was aware that the child was being kept in a crate outside the house and tried to get the others to stop doing locking the child up.
Based on the investigation, including the defendant’s statements, Selby filed child endangerment and child abuse charges on him. A preliminary hearing was held on December 22, 2020, in which the State presented evidence outlining much of the case, including the facts stated above.
The defendant was bound over to Circuit Court and pled guilty on March 1. Judge Cole sentenced the defendant to five years in prison for his role in the situation.