Trial starts Monday for mother of LP, the girl rescued from a locked closet

In the 3  1/2 years since a young, malnourished girl was found locked in a closet, several severely neglected and abused children have been found in the Kansas City area. Most of their parents have gone to court, and their cases have been wrapped up.

But the mother of the girl known only as LP hasn’t been tried yet. Jacole Prince’s case has wound through the system, with pleas made and then withdrawn. She’s charged with first-degree assault, child abuse and endangering the welfare of a child.

Monday, in Jackson County Circuit Court, Prince is set to go before a jury for the first time. And there’s a possibility that during the trial, the community could hear from the girl, now 14, whose words to police in 2012 were haunting.

When LP was found, she was 10 years old and weighed 32 pounds. She told police that her mom would often lock her in the closet for days at a time, and she would be forced to eat, sleep and sometimes urinate and defecate inside.

LP said she didn’t have birthday parties like her sisters and wasn’t allowed to play outside. She hadn’t been to school in five years and wasn’t always allowed to eat with the family. She said her mom often fed her behind the couch, where police found a bowl.

“Those details about her weight, at her age, were shocking to people,” said Emily van Schenkhof, deputy director of Missouri KidsFirst, a child advocacy group. “People could picture their own child and couldn’t believe that at 10 years old, LP was wearing a size 2T.”

Her rescue also sparked a community conversation on reporting suspicions of child abuse and neglect. Someone made the call in June 2012, but it came after authorities say LP suffered years of abuse and neglect.

In the days and weeks after she was found, people sent cards and gifts and donations. LP turned 11 a few weeks after her rescue, and those who knew her story said at the time they wanted her to feel loved on her birthday. They wanted her to know a community of people supported her.

They sent teddy bears and coloring books, clothes and a bicycle.

“There was a desire from the community for this child to be a child,” said Brent Schondelmeyer, communications director at the Local Investment Commission, which collected donations and well wishes for LP and made sure she received them. “They wanted the child to have dolls, clothes, a bike. They wanted this child to be a regular child.”

Back then, the Kansas City Child Abuse Roundtable Coalition realized what the theme for its next National Child Abuse Prevention Month should be. “Don’t Ignore the Signs” educated the public on how to recognize signs of abuse and report it. And how to prevent abuse.

“LP is alive today because someone spoke up,” said Debby Howland of the roundtable coalition. “Someone made the call.”

In a 42-page letter to The Star early last year, Prince denied ever intentionally trying to hurt LP. She also said she had tried to feed LP, but the girl couldn’t eat a lot.

“Not a moment … goes by that I don’t think about them and all the good times we had,” Prince wrote of her life with LP and two other daughters. “I wish I could hug and kiss them. See them, write and talk to them and tell them I love them, I will be there to get them in a minute.

“I never meant for any of this to happen.”

Before she sent the letter, Prince already had pleaded to the three counts against her. On the assault and abuse charges, Prince in January 2014 submitted Alford pleas, meaning she conceded prosecutors had enough evidence to convict her. She could have faced life in prison just for the assault charge, but prosecutors had agreed to limit prison time to 20 years. As for the third felony charge — endangering the welfare of a child — she pleaded guilty.

Prince wrote the court a postcard and The Star that letter, saying in both that she hadn’t wanted to plead guilty but had felt pressured to do so.

After The Star published a story about the letter, the judge said he considered the postcard a “request to withdraw” Prince’s pleas.

Advocates across the state continue to talk about LP. Because of privacy, no information about her condition today is available. The Star reported in 2013 that LP had to have a heart transplant within a year of her rescue.

Howland sees the difference the case has made.

“I really feel such a rich conversation is happening around Kansas City because LP is such a shocking story,” Howland said. “Positive things often come out of tragedies.”

Many now understand how crucial it is for people to report what they see, advocates say.

“I think a lot of times people don’t know what to do,” said van Schenkhof of Missouri KidsFirst. “This case brought forward the idea that when you make a call, it sometimes saves a child’s life.

“It only takes one call.”

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Trial starts Monday for mother of LP, the girl rescued from a locked closet."