The adult children of Rick Roeber, elected last week to the Missouri House, have accused him of sexual and physical abuse when they were young.
Republican candidate Rick Roeber won election to the Missouri House last week amid allegations of sexual and physical abuse from his grown children. This week, they sent a letter to legislative officials asking them to block their father from assuming office, according to local reports.
Three of Roeber’s children — Anastasia Roeber, Samson Roeber and Gabrielle Galeano — wrote to incoming House Speaker Rob Vescovo, describing the alleged abuse and asking that Roeber be prevented from serving as a state representative.
“As the highest office holder in the Missouri House, we are begging you to not allow this to happen,” the letter said, according to the Missouri Independent, a nonprofit news site covering state politics. “You have the power to uphold the honor of our government in a time that trust and hope is waning. Please do what is right, not just for us, but for all those in Missouri who have suffered, and all the children you have sworn to protect,” they wrote.
Roeber, a conservative Republican and Trump supporter, has vehemently denied the allegations, which surfaced in September in articles written by the Kansas City Star. The paper published interviews with Roeber's adult children and his ex-wife, the siblings' mother.
Requests for comment left by Inside Edition Digital for Roeber through Facebook and email were not returned.
In September, Roeber denied the allegations on Facebook, saying the “Missouri Child Abuse and Neglect Review Board (CANRB) concluded that all accusations were without merit and I was completely exonerated.
“The desperation of Democrats and the Main Stream Media to discredit my campaign is deplorable and indefensible,” Roeber wrote in the post.
On Tuesday, Republican caucus members said they would meet in December to review the allegations. "We take these accusations very seriously and strongly believe they must be thoroughly investigated to ensure justice is served for both the alleged victims and the accused," the GOP leaders said in a joint statement.
The children allege they were abused as youngsters, during scheduled visitations while their parents were getting divorced, the paper said. The Jackson County office of the Division of Family Services in 2001 found probable cause that “sexual maltreatment” of the child had occurred, the Kansas City Star reported.
In a later hearing before the Child Abuse and Neglect Review Board that finding was overturned, and a reason for that decision is not clear from the available record, the paper reported.
Roeber has recently faced calls for him to drop out of the legislative race in October from members of the Missouri Legislature — including from Republican state Reps. Jack Bondon, Shamed Dogan, Bill Kidd and Sheila Solon.
“These are very distributing and upsetting accusations. I believe the victims. This isn’t a Democrat or Republican issue. It’s about protecting and believing children,” Solon told The Missouri Times. “His children are doing a very brave thing in speaking out. He needs to withdraw from the race for the sake of everyone.”
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