Former Huron County Judge Thomas Heydinger has been named the replacement for state Rep. Matt Barrett, who resigned last month amidst a scandal over topless images of women he showed to a Norwalk High School class.

Heydinger will be sworn in today, said Phil Saken, spokesman for the Ohio House Democratic Caucus, which named Barrett’s replacement. The caucus, which announced the decision this morning, is comprised of all the Democratic members of the Ohio House of Representatives.

Three other candidates, including Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Frank Janik, had applied for the job.

Barrett, D-Amherst, was in his first term when the incident happened in Norwalk. He initially blamed one of his four children, a then 12-year-old son, for the images ending up on a computer memory stick he was using for the presentation.

Barrett resigned after admitting he had lied about knowing the women in the photos. He not only knew the women, but a police investigation showed they had e-mailed him sometimes sexually graphic photos of themselves taken using cell phone cameras.

Barrett won’t be charged in the case.

Heydinger will likely also be named to replace Barrett on the November ballot and face Republi-can Terry Boose, former Huron County Commissioner, in the general election.

For more on this story see Thursday’s Chronicle.

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.

---