'Horrific' abuse of KCK boy fed to pigs drives bill to improve Missouri child welfare
Michael and Heather Jones constantly evaded social workers by moving back and forth between Kansas and Missouri while they abused, tortured and starved Adrian Jones. Eventually, Adrian died and his body was fed to pigs.
But long before he died in the fall of 2015, Kansas and Missouri child welfare agencies received numerous reports detailing the seven-year-old's abuse. He even told them about it himself, but he was never removed from his father and stepmother's care. At times, both states struggled to investigate the transient family.
"If they're going to do this kind of stuff, they’re going to do everything in their power to isolate," said Adrian's maternal grandmother, Judy Conway. "They did that with Adrian by homeschooling him and jumping from Kansas to Missouri and Missouri to Kansas.”
Now, Missouri is looking at a bill to help the state track down families, like Adrian's, that move across state lines to avoid child welfare officials.
Sen. Kiki Curls, D-Kansas City, sponsored an amendment giving the Missouri Children's Division more flexibility to share abuse records and reports across state lines as part of a larger bill that would also make it more difficult for parents to shield abused children from the view of social workers.
The Missouri Senate passed the bill unanimously last month, sending it to the House for consideration.
Lori Ross, founder, president and CEO of FosterAdopt Connect, praised the effort, but said it was "ridiculous" there wasn't a federal system in place to share child welfare information. It's especially important in Kansas City where moving across a state line is simply a matter of moving across State Line Road, she said. Adrian's remains were found in Kansas City, Kan.
“That should have been going on already," Ross said. "This is solving a problem that should not exist in the United States of America. We should be able to protect our children.”
Curls' amendment would allow the state to receive abuse reports for not only children in Missouri, but children who have recently lived in Missouri. Missouri would then be required to share that information and allowed to investigate alongside officials in that state. She said Kansas and Missouri social workers struggled to determine jurisdiction over the case, though both states tried to communicate. She hoped her proposal would provide clarity.
"I certainly hope that there are not many cases," Curls said. "I think all of us recognize that Adrian Jones' case was one of the most horrific if not the most horrific case we've ever heard relative to child abuse."
Curls worked with Gov. Eric Greitens' wife, Sheena Greitens, the Missouri Department of Social Services, which oversees the Children's Division, and Sen. Wayne Wallinford, R-Cape Girardeau, who sponsored the entire bill. Missouri Department of Social Services spokeswoman Rebecca Woelfel said in an email the ability to share information could help "better inform the investigation in another state."
Spokesman Parker Briden said in an email both Eric and Sheena Greitens support any proposal to help better protect children.
"The governor and first lady believe that kids in Missouri’s foster care system are our children, both by law and in spirit, and seek to ensure that every child in Missouri has a safe, stable, and loving family," Briden said. "Their priorities include addressing child abuse and neglect, supporting successful foster families, promoting adoption and recognizing the God-given potential in each of Missouri’s foster children."
More than two years before his death, Adrian told Missouri child welfare officials about his abuse and described being kicked so hard in the back of the head that a "little bone come out." The Children's Division raised concerns about Adrian's case, but a Clinton County juvenile officer recommended in-home services.
Soon after, Michael and Heather quit complying and told Missouri they had moved to Kansas. Children's Division Director Tim Decker told legislators last year Missouri sent Kansas a report about the Jones family's move and notifying the state about its concerns.
"We do not know what exactly follow up occurred by Kansas," Children's Division Director Tim Decker told Missouri lawmakers last year. "One of the things that we have found in our contact between states is that often there is some contact but one state doesn't actually know what the other state is doing."
At another point, Decker said, Missouri requested Kansas records. When officials received the records a month later, they found concerning information and kept their investigation open to follow up.
Kansas Department for Children and Families Secretary Gina Meier-Hummel said in a statement that Kansas collaborates with other agencies.
"The Kansas Department for Children and Families works with all necessary state child welfare agencies or law enforcement departments regarding children and families who have come to our attention and have an open investigation, no matter the location," Meier-Hummel said. "Our staff works diligently to collaborate with partners in and out of Kansas to protect children at risk of abuse or neglect."
Her statement did not address questions about how Kansas worked with Missouri in Adrian's case or why Adrian was never removed from Michael and Heather Jones' care. The agency declined to comment further because of pending litigation.
If Kansas and Missouri had better communicated or had independent child advocacy watchdogs, “I think there’s a very good possibility that Adrian would still be here," Conway said.
Missouri's bill would also make it easier for child welfare officials to see kids who might be enduring abuse. They can't currently compel parents to make their children available to be seen, Decker said last year. An amendment on the bill offered by Sen. Jeanie Riddle, R-Mokane would allow officials to get a court order compelling a parent to present their child.
In Adrian's case, Decker said, Missouri received a report of abuse, but Michael and Heather didn't make him available to social workers for about nine days.
"Obviously nine days is enough time for a scratch or a bruise to heal, so when they did present Adrian to be seen, he didn’t have any marks that had been originally reported," Ross said.
Still, Conway doesn't know why child welfare officials didn't do more for Adrian when they had chances.
"If I was a social worker and a little boy was telling me something like that and the parents were telling me a different story — oh, I would yank that little child out of there until I could figure out something’s going on," Conway said.
But Conway doesn't think Adrian was believed.
“It still to this day makes my heart so incredibly sad that he told numerous adults that he was being abused, and no one ever listened to him," Conway said. "I have gotten to the point sometimes where I’ve thought, 'Why should we even teach our children to use their voices when someone’s trying to sexually assault them or beat on them or torture them or starve them?'"
Even without the interstate confusion, both Missouri and Kansas missed chances to remove Adrian, Conway and Ross said. Conway would like to see more funding and better training in the child welfare system.
"I think when we have a case where you have a child that has been severely abused or has ultimately lost his life, you will always feel as if there was not enough done to be able to save the life of a child, and I think that's something that all of us struggle with," Curls said.
After Adrian's death, Michael and Heather Jones were both sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years after pleading guilty to first-degree murder. In November, Michael sought to withdraw his guilty plea, saying his attorney pressured him to admit guilt.
Adrian's older sister, maternal grandmother and biological mother are suing agencies in both states over the mishandling of Adrian's case.
Asked if she thought Kansas and Missouri officials had done enough to protect Adrian, Ross was emphatic.
“No," Ross said. "No, absolutely not. In both states, Adrian gave information to people who should have been listening about what was happening to him, and in both states that information was not given the attention that it needed."
This story was originally published April 7, 2018 at 2:53 PM with the headline "'Horrific' abuse of KCK boy fed to pigs drives bill to improve Missouri child welfare."