- Oct 17, 2011
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In 1990, Rick Roeber’s 9-year-old daughter was tucked in bed wearing a long Simpsons T-shirt when...
The incident was one of several disturbing stories recounted to the committee by Roeber’s ex-wife and three of his four children [now adults], who accused the freshman lawmaker of terrorizing them while on alcoholic benders and regularly whipping his children with a belt.
On Monday, the bipartisan committee unanimously recommended Roeber’s expulsion. The House will vote later this week on the measure, which would require a two-thirds majority.
Roeber was “combative, defensive, defiant, and at times angry” during his hearing, according to the report. At one point, he said that “all my kids are Democrats” and therefore involved in a “political hit” against him because “Democrats would accuse their fathers” of this kind of abuse.
In September, two of Roeber’s children spoke publicly to the Kansas City Star’s editorial board about the abuse they said they endured as children in the 1990s. Despite the editorial, Roeber beat his Democratic opponent by 301 votes but was expelled from the Republican caucus when his term began, according to the Star.
(These claims were not invented recently as a political hit.)
In 2001, his ex-wife said she learned that Child 2 was also sexually abused in 1990, when the child was 5. The report states that Roeber’s sexual abuse constituted “deviate sexual intercourse” under state law.
The child also disclosed the abuse to a therapist, who notified the Division of Family Services and local law enforcement. DFS found probable cause of abuse but once again, no criminal charges were filed. Roeber appealed the probable-cause finding two years later and won.
The incident was one of several disturbing stories recounted to the committee by Roeber’s ex-wife and three of his four children [now adults], who accused the freshman lawmaker of terrorizing them while on alcoholic benders and regularly whipping his children with a belt.
On Monday, the bipartisan committee unanimously recommended Roeber’s expulsion. The House will vote later this week on the measure, which would require a two-thirds majority.
Roeber was “combative, defensive, defiant, and at times angry” during his hearing, according to the report. At one point, he said that “all my kids are Democrats” and therefore involved in a “political hit” against him because “Democrats would accuse their fathers” of this kind of abuse.
In September, two of Roeber’s children spoke publicly to the Kansas City Star’s editorial board about the abuse they said they endured as children in the 1990s. Despite the editorial, Roeber beat his Democratic opponent by 301 votes but was expelled from the Republican caucus when his term began, according to the Star.
(These claims were not invented recently as a political hit.)
In 2001, his ex-wife said she learned that Child 2 was also sexually abused in 1990, when the child was 5. The report states that Roeber’s sexual abuse constituted “deviate sexual intercourse” under state law.
The child also disclosed the abuse to a therapist, who notified the Division of Family Services and local law enforcement. DFS found probable cause of abuse but once again, no criminal charges were filed. Roeber appealed the probable-cause finding two years later and won.
