Missouri Woman Charged With Assaulting Infant Child While Living Overseas

On Dec. 11, a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Missouri returned a six-count indictment against a woman for assaulting her infant child while living in military housing in Germany and for obstructing justice and making false statements during the course of the subsequent federal investigation.     

Baillie Rachelle Dickenson, a.k.a. Baillie Hannah, 28, was residing in Kaiserslautern, Germany when the events set forth in the indictment occurred.  She now lives in St. Joseph, Missouri.  She is charged with two counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury, two counts of obstruction of justice, and two counts of making a false statement to a federal officer.  Dickenson was arrested on Jan. 2, and arraigned before Magistrate Judge Lajuana Counts on Jan. 9.  Trial in this matter has been scheduled for the Sept. 23, 2019 jury trial docket.     

Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Timothy A. Garrison of the Western District of Missouri, Major General David P. Glaser of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, and Darrin E. Jones, FBI Special Agent in Charge, Kansas City Division, made the announcement.  

The indictment alleges that on or about March 12, 2016, Dickenson was living overseas in Kaiserslautern with her then-husband, Derreck Dickenson, who was an active-duty member of the U.S. Army.  The couple resided in military housing with their two minor children, a daughter who was aged 16 months old and a son who was two months old at that time.  While he was in her custody, Dickenson allegedly assaulted her son, causing serious injuries, including multiple fractures, eye injuries, and a serious brain injury.  During the ensuing investigation of the matter, she obstructed justice by concealing a cell phone and influencing her husband’s statement to investigators, and made a series of false statements to investigators when they questioned her.

An indictment is merely an allegation.  All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command and the FBI.  The prosecution is being handled by Trial Attorney Mona Sahaf of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Teresa Moore of the Western District of Missouri.