Daisy Coleman, a teenager, claims to have been raped by a star high school football player in Maryville, Mo., and says she has been humiliated while her mother, Melinda Coleman, said that her family was essentially forced to leave town. The football player--a grandson of a local Missouri politician--never faced prosecution, according to an investigative report.
Melinda told the Kansas City Star in a story published over the weekend that in January 2012, she found Daisy, her 14-year-old daughter, passed out on her doorstep in freezing temperatures with a T-shirt and sweats on. The teen told her mother that she was essentially pressured into heavily drinking at a party and was later raped while she was under the influence.
“It almost sounded like somebody falling against the door,” Melinda Coleman told KCUR-TV. “I kept thinking, did she sleepwalk? And she had absolutely no idea.”
When she was examined by a doctor, they found there was “recent” sexual activity.
“I was just like, I thought I was dead at first,” Daisy told the station after she woke up.
Matthew Barnett, 17, was charged with sexual assault and endangering a child, but the charges against he and a friend who reportedly videotaped the incident were dropped. His grandfather, Rex Barnett, was a longtime Republican member of the Missouri House of Representatives, and he denied to the Star that he had a hand in the case getting dropped.
“They just dropped it all. The prosecuting attorney would never tell me why,” said Melinda Coleman. “To this day, they have never told me absolutely why it was all dropped.”
“I asked her if she hurt, and she said, ‘yes,’” she added.
Melinda Coleman eventually lost her job after her daughter’s police report was filed. She said her three sons were also threatened at school, according to the Star.
And Daisy and her brothers said they were harassed by other students and locals on Facebook.
Coleman said that her family was eventually forced to leave town. But the house she was trying to sell was burned down, with fire officials ruling the cause to be “undetermined.”
However, she believes that the fire might have been arson that was committed in retaliation to her daughter’s rape allegation.
Hacker group Anonymous tweeted on Monday that “charges were dropped against alleged rapist, grandson of local political figure,” suggesting the group might retaliate.
An “#OpMaryville” video posted by Anonymous Canada seems to suggest that some action might be taken in the future.
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