"Since Anonymous has gotten involved, everything has changed." Coleman's release secret recordings with Nodaway County Prosecutor Robert Rice.
October 18, 2013


The appointment of a special prosecutor in a high-profile sexual assault case in Missouri is expected to give the case a fresh start.

Daisy Coleman took to XoJane.com, Friday, with a gut-wrenching account of the events surrounding her alleged rape in Maryville, Missouri last January. The teenager's case has captured national media attention recently as the county prosecutor who initially dropped the felony charges against the two 17-year-old boys—accused of sexually assaulting then-14-year-old Coleman and a 13-year-old friend -- said this week that he’s reopening the case. "My whole life since January 8, 2012, has been a long, reckless winter," Coleman wrote in Friday's blog post, describing the ridicule and depression she's endured and crediting Anonymous with bringing her case back into the public domain. “I can't ever go back."

From Daisy's blog:

"Since this happened, I've been in hospitals too many times to count. I've found it impossible to love at times. I've gained and lost friends. I no longer dance or compete in pageants. I'm different now, and I can't ever go back to the person I once was. That one night took it all away from me. I'm nothing more than just human, but I also refuse to be a victim of cruelty any longer.

This is why I am saying my name. This is why I am not shutting up. Matt put on Twitter something recently. It read: “If her name begins with A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z, she wants the D.”

Since Anonymous has gotten involved, everything has changed. #justice4Daisy has trended on the Internet, and pressure has come down hard on the authorities who thought they could hide what really happened.

I not only survived, I didn't give up. I've been told that a special prosecutor is going to reopen the case now. This is a victory, not just for me, but for every girl.

I just hope more men will take a lesson from my brothers.

They look out for women. They don't prey on them."

The mother of Daisy Coleman has released excerpts of a secret recording she made of a May 2012 conversation she had with Nodaway County Prosecutor Robert Rice.

In the recordings, which were released to the Kansas City Star, and appear as transcripts on the newspaper's website, Melinda Coleman can reportedly be heard saying, "We were always willing to testify."

This contradicts Rice's assertion that charges were dropped in the case due to Daisy and her mother's refusal to cooperate.

Meanwhile, the parents of one of the accused Maryville rapists, Matthew Barnett, 19, are speaking out about the unfair pain and suffering endured by their son in light of the “one-sided” rape accusations.

Talking to MailOnline from their detached home in Maryville, school teacher Mrs. Barnett, 50, said: 'The more you dig, you will get closer to the truth. It is not on the surface, you’re going to have to dig for it, unfortunately we can’t help with that because that is not our personality.'

'I teach school and I teach people in my class, you treat people the way you want to be treated.'

I wouldn't touch the Barnett's comments with a ten-foot pole, but feel free to do so in the comments.

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