Family Driven from Maryville, Missouri Home After Daughter's Rape by Student Athlete:
thepoliticalfreakshow:
A story in the Kansas City Star is rippling across the Internet as a post-Steubenville example of how communities still circle the wagons and protect student athletes who commit sexual assault.
A story in the Kansas City Star is rippling across the Internet as a post-Steubenville example of how communities still circle the wagons and protect student athletes who commit sexual assault.
A pair of sexual assaults that occurred one day last year in Maryville, Missouri, weren’t much different from ones that happen every day: there were teenagers, there was alcohol, and there were rapes that the perpetrators claimed were consensual.
As reported by the Star, on Saturday, January 8, 2012, Maryville High School freshman cheerleader Daisy (whose identity has been made public by her mother) had been having a sleepover with her 13-year-old friend. The girls were drinking liquor hidden in her bedroom and texting Matthew Barnett, 17, a football player and acquaintance of her older brother. Daisy had a crush on the older boy, who had been at the Coleman home just days earlier watching TV. That night around 1a.m., the two girls snuck out of the house to meet up with Barnett and a group of his friends, sneaking through a basement window at Barnett’s house.
There, Daisy was handed two glasses of booze, one after the other. She doesn’t remember being raped by Barnett, while one of his friends, a 15-year-old boy, raped her 13-year-old friend as she said “no” multiple times. One boy who was there that night, Jordan Zech, 17, a football player and wrestler, captured Daisy’s assault on on iPhone video.
Daisy was so drunk she had to be carried out of the Barnett home; multiple kids confirmed that as she was being taken back to her house, she was crying. Daisy’s 13-year-old friend found her way back into the Coleman house, but Daisy was left in a tee shirt and sweatpants on the front lawn overnight. When her mother, Melinda Coleman, found her the next morning after she heard noises from outside, Daisy’s hair was frozen.
Melinda brought her daughter indoors and warmed her up in a bath. That’s when she noticed physical signs of sexual assault and immediately took her daughter to the hospital.
Police hauled in the young men, who admitted to drinking and “sex” with the girls. Barnett insisted what happened was consensual; under Missouri law, sex cannot be consensual if the victim is incapacitated by alcohol. Barnett was charged with felony sexual assault and misdemeanor endangerment of the welfare of a child. Zech, who had filmed the encounter, was charged with sexual exploitation.
Retribution against the Coleman children was swift. Daisy was suspended from the cheerleading team (presumably for drinking) and slutshamed by her peers. Melinda Coleman was warned about chatter online saying her sons would get beaten up. Daisy’s older brother heard Zech’s video of the assault was being passed around school. Then Melinda Coleman lost her job at a veterinary clinic. (Her boss admitted to the Star to having “ties” to one of the boys involved.)
This is where the story takes on a Steubenville-level of absurdity in how the perpetrators walked free. In March 2012, prosecutor Robert Rice dismissed the felony cases against the boys. Barnett’s misdemeanor charge for child endangerment (for leaving Daisy out in the cold) was later dropped as well.
In an interview, Rice was quoted as saying, “They were doing what they wanted to do, and there weren’t any consequences. And it’s reprehensible. But is it criminal? No.” How did Rice come to such a conclusion? Barnett, it turns out, was a grandson of former MO State Representative Rex Barnett. Rex Bennett denied any meddling to the Star.
Because the charges were dropped, rape kit results and witness interviews are now sealed. A Change.org petition by a friend of the mother of the 13-year-old girl is asking for Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to step in to investigate Rice’s mishandling of the rape case.
In the mean time, the Coleman family has moved 40 miles away. Six months ago, they learned their Maryville home had been burned to the ground. Daisy, according to the Star, has attempted suicide at least two times.
It’s a story that calls to mind not only Steubenville, but Rehtaeh Parsons and Audrie Pott, two teen girls in Nova Scotia and California who killed themselves after they were raped by peers and then harassed for being victims. As is all too common, these young women were blamed for their own assaults while their rapists receive a slap on the wrist (at most). Daisy is still alive today, thankfully. Here’s hoping the national focus on her story will bring more attention to both the slutshaming and abuse she and her family suffered, rather than magnify it.
UPDATE: Here’s more information on rapist Matthew Barnett’s grandfather, former MO State Representative Rex Barnett (R).
Representative Rex Barnett, a Republican, represents Atchison, Nodaway and Worth counties (District 4) in the Missouri House of Representatives.
He was elected to his first two-year term in 1994.
Rep. Barnett is a retired Missouri State Highway Patrol officer. He worked in Troop H for 32 years.
He is a deacon in the First Baptist Church in his hometown and is a member of the Masonic Lodge: Scottish Rite, Shrine, Order of Eastern Star, Farm Bureau, AQHA and APHA.
Rep. Barnett attended Trenton Junior College, Draughn Business College, and Central Missouri State University.
Rep. Barnett currently resides in Maryville with his wife, Anna. They have two children and seven grandchildren.
Anonymous has announced that it is taking part in attempting to get charges brought back against Matthew Barnett and others.
On Sunday morning, the Kansas City Star published a horrific account of the rape and subsequent harassment of 14-year-old Daisy Coleman and her family. By early Monday morning, the hacktivist group Anonymous had taken up the cause on the Coleman’s behalf.
The facts of the case are not in dispute: on January 8, 2012, a high school senior recorded himself having sex with Daisy Coleman, then left her, drunk and nearly unconscious, on her parents’ front lawn in freezing weather. The senior in question, Matthew Barnett, had given her “a big glass of clear stuff,” and tests at the hospital seven hours later showed her with a blood alcohol level of 0.13.
Barnett was arrested and charged with sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a minor, and while in custody confessed to having sex with the drunk 14-year-old, but insisted that it was consensual. He also admitted to leaving her “outside sitting in 30-degree weather,” and it was Barnett who informed police that the sex had been recorded on an iPhone. Police later executed a search warrant on the Barnett home, which yielded physical evidence including Coleman’s panties and a bottle of Bacardi Big Apple.
“Within four hours,” Sheriff White told the Star, “we had obtained a search warrant for the house and executed that. We had all of the suspects in custody and had audio/video confessions.”
Despite this, two weeks later the charges were all dropped. Barnett’s grandfather, Rex, a Republican state representative, claims that the dismissal had nothing to do with political influence. The prosecutor who worked the case said that teens “were doing what they wanted to do, and there weren’t any consequences. And it’s reprehensible. But is it criminal? No.”
The Coleman family moved away, but had been unable to sell their house. Last April, it burned to the ground in what authorities characterized as a “suspicious circumstance.”
Early this morning, in response to the Star‘s report, Anonymous posted a letter to the town of Maryville:
We demand an immediate investigation into the handling by local authorities of Daisy’s case. Why was a suspect, who confessed to a crime, released with no charges? How was video and medical evidence not enough to put one of these football players inside a court room? What is the connection of these prosecutors, if any, to Rep. Rex Barnett? Most of all, We are wondering, how do the residents of Maryville sleep at night?
If Maryville won’t defend these young girls, if the police are too cowardly or corrupt to do their jobs, if justice system has abandoned them, then we will have to stand for them. Mayor Jim Fall, your hands are dirty. Maryville, expect us.
The campaign has been dubbed #OpMaryville and begins in full today.
Update 11:38 a.m. EST: The victim in this case is underage and her name would not normally be released; however, the Star appended the following to their coverage of the case:
Seven months ago, The Star began looking into the 2012 case of two young teens who told authorities they were sexually assaulted by older boys. The Star spoke extensively with the mothers of the girls, interviewed dozens of others and reviewed hundreds of pages of records, from sheriff’s office interviews with the accused to medical records. While most documents were sealed by authorities, many were copied previously by the Coleman family and provided to The Star.
Though The Star’s policy usually is not to name alleged victims in sexual assault incidents, or cases of attempts on one’s life, exceptions have been made in some cases. Daisy Coleman’s name appears in this article with the permission and cooperation of the Coleman family.
Contact Rex Barnett below…
Contact #Missouri official Rex Barnett & ask about his grandson having rape charges dropped http://t.co/pkwDSvUudh#Justice4Daisy #Maryville
Below is a picture of the rapist Matthew Barnett.
UPDATE: This case gets even worse, if that’s possible. It turns out that Matthew Barnett raped Daisy Coleman and another underage minor at his family home, then left Daisy for dead.
A county prosecutor and sheriff have been accused of a cover-up after sex attack charges were dropped against the grandson of an influential Missouri representative.
Matthew Barnett, 17, had been facing charges of sexually assaulting a drunk 14-year-old girl at his family home in January.
But the case sparked outrage among justice campaigners when the accusations were dismissed earlier this month due to lack of evidence.
An online petition claims the decision was made despite video evidence and even before forensic test results had come back from the lab.
It alleges the teenager’s grandfather, GOP state representative Rex Barnett, may have influenced Sheriff Darren White and prosecutor Robert Rice.
It states that Rex Barnett serves on at least one committee with Sheriff White and has called on Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to investigate.
'The conduct of Robert Rice and Darren White is, at the very least, questionable in this case,' the petition goes on to say.
Barnett had been accused of sexually assaulting the girl while his friend Jordan Zech, 17, recorded the alleged attack on his cell phone.
It is also alleged a 15-year-old boy was filmed assaulting a 13-year-old girl at the same time in the house.
'Cover-up': It is claimed Barnett's grandfather, Missouri State Representative Rex Barnett (left), may have influenced Sheriff Darren White (right) into dropping the charges
Court documents state Barnett left the girl passed out on her front lawn, where she was found by her parents, according to St Joseph News-Press. She says she cannot remember the alleged attack.
Barnett and Zech faced sex charges after the incident on January 8, but these were dropped on March 13 because prosecutors said they could not prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.
Barnett instead faces a misdemeanor charge of endangering the welfare of a child over claims the girl was given alcohol and then dumped outside. No charges remain against Zech.
Mr Rice said it was the ‘right call’ to drop the charges.
'The state does not have proof beyond a reasonable doubt that those two defendants committed the charges that were originally filed against them after concluding our investigation,' he is reported as saying.'
He added: ‘We did have all the medical, and all the information where we could make a decision based on the evidence, and I am absolutely convinced it was the right call to do, and it was the right decision to dismiss it.’
'Questionable conduct': The petition on change.org which calls on Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster to investigate the case
Campaigners have expressed their shock over the decision, which they claim was made before the forensic test results had been been returned.
They also point to the fact there is video evidence and claim the 15-year-old confessed to his part in the attacks while facing charges in the juvenile courts.
The petition posted on change.org, a website which allows people to campaign for social change, says: ‘The rape kits (forensic tests) performed on both the girls haven’t even come back yet for investigators to see.
'Matthew Barnett is also in a very influential family in Maryville. His grandfather is Missouri representative Rex Barnett, and Rex serves on at least one committee with Sheriff Darrin White.
'The conduct of Robert Rice and Darrin White is at, the very least, questionable in this case.
'Please sign our petition, give these girls and their families some relief, justice, and closure.'
It has been signed by 848 people.
AnonNews has the names of both rapists in this case. Take a look below.
Two football players, a 14 year old girl, a 15 year old girl, and a 13 year old girl. Both of the males have a prominent name in this small town (Maryville, Mo). Barnett has a grandfather(Rex Barnett) in the House of Representatives. Zech’s father (from what i’m told) hold’s a major position at a bank. Here is aquote from their families: “It was so quiet and they slid it by so quickly, I didn’t even know they dropped the charges”.
Rapist #1: Matthew Barnett (Maryville Missouri) (FB: https://www.facebook.com/matt.barnett.3388?fref=ts )
Rapist #2: Jordan Zecht (Maryville Missouri) (FB: https://www.facebook.com/jordan.zech?fref=ts)
Links:
http://www.change.org/petitions/missouri-attorney-general-investigate-robert-rice-sheriff-darrin-white-and-evidence-used
http://prewww.newspressnow.com/localnews/30751211/detail.html
http://www.nwmissourinews.com/news/article_8fbe8764-4232-11e1-b64a-0019bb30f31a.html
Rex Barnett: http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/spec01/member01/mem004.htm
A person in the forum posted a correction to the above.
The Zech’s father is not the owner of a bank, but a night stock worker of a local grocery store as well as the supervisor of Information Systems department at a local factory. He took the job at a grocery store because of financial problems. Bankruptcy was in a paper from the previous year.
The video was stored on an iPhone. Can not say if the kid still has the phone, but probably still has the data somewhere.
UPDATE: There is now an IndieGogo fundraising campaign to raise money for Daisy Coleman.
This post will be updated with more new information when available.