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January 14, 2005

Dayton plea deal costs a career

Cop didn't report child-abuse charge

A former Dayton police sergeant has agreed to plead guilty to charges that will cost him not only his job but his career.

Raleigh Barnett, 42, was scheduled to plead guilty this morning to official misconduct and failure to report an allegation of child abuse. The charges stem from his investigation into a report of child abuse and the subsequent hiring of the man named in that allegation for a position in the Dayton police force.

Barnett admitted that he did not follow up on the investigation that the newly hired Dayton police officer, Allen Peace, had sexually abused an 11-year-old girl in January. He also admitted not including that allegation on a background check he did before the department hired Peace.

Peace, who worked for the department about a week, resigned at the time of his Dec. 9 arrest on one count of first-degree sexual abuse. That case is pending.

In return for Barnett's guilty pleas to the two misdemeanor charges, the special prosecutor in the case is agreeing to drop a felony charge of misusing confidential information. Assistant Boone Commonwealth Attorney Kurt Kruthoffer also will not seek any jail time for Barnett, instead agreeing to a suspended sentence of six months in jail.

As condition for staying out of jail, though, Barnett has agreed never to seek a police officer's job.

"He's not going to be a cop anymore," Kruthoffer said. "That's what everyone wants.

"He'll just need to find a new line of work."

Technically, the agreement just calls for Barnett not to seek police work for two years -- the maximum time under misdemeanor penalties. His attorney, though, said Barnett has ended his police career -- he resigned from the Dayton force last week -- and, practically speaking, no department would risk hiring him again.

"It is Sgt. Barnett's decision not to pursue a police career," said defense attorney Thomas Beiting. "Effectively, that will be the situation, not only because of the official misconduct charge, but after being out for two years, he'll lose his certification."

Campbell District Judge Greg Popovich was expected to take Barnett's pleas today. The plea agreement was signed Wednesday.

Beiting said Barnett's plea and his resulting career loss shows the importance of the state law requiring all professionals -- doctors, police officers, teachers and others -- to report allegations of child abuse. He said Barnett investigated a claim by a Dayton woman who reported that her daughter had been abused but that he did not pass along the report to the state social services agencies because he didn't believe it.

The law, however, requires him to report it, Beiting said, and he did not.

Barnett, an eight-year veteran of the department who once served as acting police chief, is paying a huge price for making that huge mistake, his lawyer said. "He made a serious error," Beiting said, "but at least he was man enough to admit it from the get-go."

Posted by Nealus at January 14, 2005 01:23 PM

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