Dix Woman Found Guilty Of Perjury

Four men and eight women found Jean Childs of Dix guilty of the crime of perjury on Friday, Aug. 30, in Kimball District Court. The jury took just over an hour to determine her guilt.

Jean Childs was represented by public defender Lindsay Snyder, while Special Prosecutor Paul Schaub prosecuted the perjury case.

The perjury charges stem from an investigation in February 2016 and a trial in August 2016.

In the trial, Jean Childs’ husband was accused and found guilty of “injury to a public road.” The road was Vine Street in Dix. Childs’ wife perjured herself during the trial.

Child’s attorney, Snyder, stressed in her opening and closing statements that the perjury case simply rested on semantics and terminology.

Witnesses for the prosecution were Lt. Travis Wallace of the Nebraska State Patrol, Kimball County Deputy Marla Knigge and Kimball County Attorney David Wilson.

The original incident began with a call from the village of Dix in reference to a “trench” across the Vine Street. The village wanted to fill in the “trench” but needed a vehicle moved, and the vehicle belonged to the Childs. As a result of the “trench,” Ken Childs was charged with “injury to a public road.”

Knigge made contact with the Childs on two separate occasions and she saw the “trench.” Knigge stated that Jean Childs said it was “a little trench to drain water” from their property.

During the “injury to public road” trial, Ken Child’s, acting as his own attorney, called Jean Childs as his first witness and she stated that there was no “trench.” According to the transcript, she blamed the neighbors for digging the ditch.

The defense called no witnesses.

The jury had a choice of three different findings – perjury, lying under oath, or not guilty. The unanimous decision was perjury.

A pre-sentence investigation will be conducted, and Childs will appear in court again in November.

District Judge Derek Weimer praised the jury members for the willingness to serve.

“Our system of justice doesn’t work,” he said, without people willing to service their community and county. Weimer recognized that everyone would have rather been somewhere else, but he appreciated their service.

Schaub said that perjury “undermines the integrity of the court system.”