Maryville rape suspect will be charged with just misdemeanor

A man accused of raping a Maryville, Mo. teen in 2012 will not face sexual assault charges, but rather a single count of misdemeanor child endangerment.

The charge was filed against Matthew Barnett, 19, Thursday by Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker, for leaving a half-conscious Daisy Coleman, 14, barefoot in her front yard in the early hours of a January morning.

“The defendant acted with criminal negligence in a manner that created a substantial risk to the life, body and health of D.C., a child less than 17 years old, by providing D.C. with alcohol until she was substantially intoxicated and impaired, and then leaving D.C. outside of her home in the below-freezing temperatures when D.C. was incapable of protecting or caring for herself,” court records said.

Barnett, then a player on the school's football team, was originally charged with felony sexual assault, but charges were dropped by Nodaway County Prosecutor Robert Rice, who claimed Daisy and her mother had refused to cooperate.

The case received national attention after Daisy and her mother, Melinda Coleman, went public, denying that they had refused to cooperate. They accused Rice of playing political favorites with Barnett, the grandson on a former state legislator.

Baker was appointed late last year as a special prosecutor to review the case.

Daisy alleged she was plied with alcohol at Barnett's home, taunted by older high school boys to drink excessively from the "bitch cup." She said the next thing she remembers was waking up in her front yard.

At 8 a.m., Daisy's blood alcohol content was 0.13, and claimed Barnett had assaulted her. She said she does not remember the alleged incident, and Baker has maintained the sex was consensual.

Barnett is scheduled to appear Thursday afternoon in the courtroom of Associate Circuit Judge Glen Dietrich.

Daisy was hospitalized earlier this week after swallowing pills Sunday evening in an apparent suicide attempt, stemming from harassment since she went public with her accusations.

The Colemans were forced out of Maryville, moving to Albany, about 25 miles away, to escape harassments and death threats. Their Maryville house was burned down after they left.

[Kansas City Star]