State Rep. Matt Barrett has resigned his post because he was not truthful about a photo of a topless woman that Barrett accidentally showed to a Norwalk High School class last fall, Ohio House Democratic Leader Joyce Beatty announced today.

Beatty, D-Columbus, asked for the resignation Wednesday night after learning about the deception by Barrett, D-Amherst, said Democratic spokesman Phil Saken.

“It’s a disappointment,” Saken said. “It’s become clear that he had not been forthright with his colleagues.”

Norwalk Law Director Stuart O’Hara said today that an investigation by Norwalk police into the incident had been completed and he is seeking a special prosecutor from outside Barrett’s district to decide whether Barrett, an attorney, should be charged.

It’s unclear what the investigation determined. A preliminary probe by the State Highway Patrol last year indicated that one of Barrett’s four children, likely a teenage son, was responsible for the image on the thumb drive the state representative plugged into his laptop during his presentation.

State Rep. Joe Koziura, D-Lorain, said the Ohio Democratic Caucus will name Barrett’s replacement. Koziura said he hadn’t seen the resignation coming. “That’s unbelievable,” he said today.

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