Rex Barnett (born October 22, 1938) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and former member of the

Missouri State Highway Patrol The Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) is the highway patrol agency for Missouri and has jurisdiction all across the state. It is a division of the Missouri Department of Public Safety. Colonel Eric T. Olson has been serving as the 24th supe ...

. A Republican, he represented District 4 (

Atchison Atchison may refer to: Places In the United States: *Atchison, California, a former settlement *Atchison, Kansas, a city *Atchison County, Kansas *Atchison County, Missouri People with the surname * Bob Atchison (born 1941), Canadian drag race ...

, Nodaway and Worth Counties) in the Missouri House of Representatives for four terms (from 1994 to 2002). During this time, he sat on committees for criminal law, public safety and law enforcement, and appropriations for corrections and public safety.

Allegations of obstruction of justice

In 2012, Barnett's grandson was arrested for the rape of the then fourteen-year-old

Daisy Coleman Catherine Daisy Coleman (March 30, 1997August 4, 2020) was an American sexual assault victim advocate who was the subject of the 2016 documentary film ''Audrie & Daisy'', for which she received a Cinema Eye Honor. Coleman co-founded the non-pro ...

and for having left her unconscious on her family's front porch in severe conditions in Maryville, Missouri. Barnett's grandson confessed, but prosecutors declined to pursue charges, and allegations were subsequently made that Barnett had interfered with the case. Barnett subsequently denied any involvement in the case, stating that he "knew that any contact whatsoever by me with the sheriff’s department or prosecuting attorney — or any witness, as far as that goes — would have been bad for me and bad for the case." Barnett's grandson pleaded guilty to

misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

second-degree endangerment of the welfare of a child for leaving Coleman outside her house, and was sentenced by Missouri Circuit Judge Glen Dietrich to four months in jail that were suspended in favor of two years probation.

died by suicide on August 4, 2020. Daisy's mother, Melinda Coleman, died by suicide on December 6, barely four months later.

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Legislation sponsored or co-sponsored by Rex Barnett in 2001

at the Missouri House of Representatives * 1938 births Living people Republican Party members of the Missouri House of Representatives People from Grundy County, Missouri University of Central Missouri alumni People from Maryville, Missouri {{Missouri-politician-stub

Allegations of obstruction of justice

See also

References

External links