Former Amherst councilman could face criminal charges after display of nude woman’s photo at a school lecture

Barrett

State Rep. Matt Barrett resigned in disgrace Thursday at the request of the Ohio House of Representatives minority leader and could face criminal charges related to an incident last year in which he accidentally projected the image of a topless woman during a civics lecture to a high school class.

“It became clear that Rep. Barrett had not been forthright with me and his colleagues,” state Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Columbus, said in a news release Thursday, a day after she asked Barrett to resign.

Shortly after the October incident, Beatty downplayed it, saying one of Barrett’s four children, a teenage son, was responsible for the image on his father’s computer.

But Beatty’s release Thursday said Barrett has now admitted to Beatty that he lied, but the release did not elaborate.

Beatty was traveling Thursday and unavailable for comment.

State Rep. Chris Redfern, D-Catawba Island, who also serves as head of the state Democratic Party, wouldn’t say what Barrett lied about, but he said the responsibility lies with Barrett, not other Democrats.

“It’s not a Democratic scandal. It’s a Matt Barrett scandal,” Redfern said. “He lied to a lot of people.”

Barrett’s resignation doesn’t end his problems.

Norwalk Law Director Stuart O’Hara said he plans to bring in a special prosecutor to examine whether Barrett should be charged in the incident, which took place while Barrett was speaking to about 20 students in an American government class at Norwalk High School.

An image of a topless woman was projected to the class after Barrett, D-Amherst, inserted a data memory stick into his laptop while discussing how a bill becomes a law. Barrett said at the time he didn’t know how the image became part of his presentation.

He shut down the computer when he saw the image and finished his speech using paper handouts.

Barrett had asked for a police investigation after reviewing the memory card with school officials and finding a whole directory of inappropriate photos.

“I thought, ‘I have nothing to hide here. Bring everyone in and let’s figure it out,’ ” Barrett told reporters after the incident.

He did not return repeated calls Thursday, and no one answered the door at his home.

Huron County Prosecutor Russ Leffler said he reviewed the investigation completed by Norwalk police and the Ohio Highway Patrol into how the image ended up on the memory stick.

Leffler wouldn’t discuss the exact nature of what else was found on Barrett’s laptop and memory stick, but he said it didn’t rise to the level of a felony.

O’Hara also said he couldn’t discuss the nature of the photos or what possible misdemeanor charges Barrett, an Amherst councilman before his election to the house in 2006, could face.

Barrett, an attorney, also could face disciplinary action by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Kreig Brusnahan, president of the Lorain County Bar Association, said he couldn’t comment on whether the association was reviewing a case against Barrett. The Ohio Supreme Court Disciplinary Counsel likewise would neither confirm nor deny whether an investigation into Barrett was ongoing. Barrett has no previous disciplinary problems as an attorney, according to the Supreme Court’s Web site.

It’s unclear who will replace Barrett or what impact his resignation and the allegations against him will have on the Democrats hanging onto the district he represented, which includes Huron County and parts of Seneca and Lorain counties.

Tony Giardini, chairman of the Democratic Party in Lorain, said losing Barrett was a blow because he was an effective legislator who had fought hard to win the traditionally Republican-leaning district he represented in Columbus.

“I don’t know what was on the hard drive, or how it got there, and, even assuming the worst-case scenario, Matt Barrett was an excellent legislator and a good attorney,” Giardini said.

Contact Brad Dicken at 329-7147 or bdicken@chroniclet.com.

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