Girls testify in Douglas County trial over alleged abuse at sleepovers

Two 15-year-old girls told a Douglas County jury Tuesday that Jordey McTaggart sexually abused them years ago during sleepovers at his Lawrence home, and one said she waited until last year to report it because she feared she would not be believed and feared she would be beaten. The testimony came after a jury was selected Monday and the state gave its opening argument in Douglas County District Court.

In March, Judge Sally Pokorny ordered McTaggart to stand trial on two counts of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and one count of raping a child. The alleged crimes occurred in 2018, when the girls’ birth years were listed as 2010 and 2011. McTaggart was arrested and charged in July 2025 and later released on a $25,000 cash or surety bond with GPS monitoring.

At the January preliminary hearing, one girl testified she was 7 or 8 when one alleged incident occurred. The other said McTaggart raped her via intercourse multiple times during sleepovers when she was 8 or 9, later saying she might have been 7 or 8. The first girl told police after speaking with her therapist, who reported the matter to authorities. Defense attorney Jessica Glendening challenged inconsistencies between the girls’ testimony and earlier police statements, including whether penetration occurred, whether they were asleep or awake, and whether McTaggart was behind or on top of one of them.

The allegations have unfolded inside a Lawrence household, where the girls were staying with McTaggart’s children in the same home and attending the same elementary school. A federal child-welfare research brief says childhood disclosure of sexual abuse occurs in only 31% to 41% of cases, lifetime disclosure ranges from 58% to 72%, and about one survivor in five never discloses abuse.

The case now sits with a Douglas County jury made up of seven men and seven women, including two alternates. Prosecutor David Melton handled the state’s opening argument as jurors began hearing evidence in a case that could carry life imprisonment under Kansas law if McTaggart is convicted of the charges involving children under 14.