Stone County Woman Sentenced in Abuse of Child

A Stone County woman who admitted to subjecting her son to extreme abuse will be heading to state prison.

The full story below from Jason Wert of the Branson Tri-Lakes News:

Judge David Cole sentenced Dessa Barton, 26, to 12 years in prison after a guilty plea to felony abuse or neglect of a child. 

On Nov. 6, 2020, 911 received a call about a 4-year-old child in distress on State Highway K. Stone County Prosecutor Matt Selby told Branson Tri-Lakes News when deputies arrived on-site, the boy was not able to breathe or maintain a heartbeat on his own.

“He had extensive bruising to his head and was severely malnourished, weighing only about 25 pounds,” Selby said. “He was diagnosed with Traumatic Brain Trauma.” 

The child eventually had to be flown via helicopter to a Kansas City children’s hospital for treatment. Selby said the child went through multiple surgeries and continues to receive both physical and mental health treatment but is “doing well.”

The investigation determined that the boy was kept inside a locked crate. Katherine Kost, who is also facing charges related to her role in the boy’s abuse, said that the child was locked in overnight.

Court documents show Barton originally told investigators the injuries to the child were a result of “self-harming,” but medical staff at Cox South Hospital told police the injuries could not have happened through what the mother had told them. Barton later claimed she was waiting to receive Medicaid before taking the child to get help for his injuries, but was “hampered by COVID-19.”

“I hope that Dessa Barton serves a substantial portion of that sentence,” Stone County prosecutor Matt Selby said in a statement. “What she did or allowed others to do was horrible and this child suffered in a lot of different ways.  Justice demanded a substantial sentence and that was our goal in the case.

“A lot of people, including the investigators Brian Landreth and Matt Maggard, my investigator, Christy Kuticka, and my victim advocate, Amy Romesburg, worked really hard and worked really well together, to investigate this case and put it together for trial.  That work and cooperation led to a successful prosecution and some measure of justice for this child and his family.”

Co-defendant Richard Hilliker, 52, pleaded guilty to child endangerment in March 2021 and received a five year sentence. The two other people charged in the case, Kost and William Dalton McLendon, 26, are scheduled to go on trial. 

Kost’s case will be heard in Taney County before Judge Merrill on March 22; and McLendon is scheduled for a jury trial on May 10.