A Missouri court has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate a teenage girl’s allegation that older classmates raped her and her friend, in a case that has drawn national interest because of the fierce local backlash directed at the teenager and her family.
The court confirmed Monday that Jean Peters Baker, a prosecutor from another county in the state, will pursue the case in Maryville, Mo, the Associated Press reports. Daisy Coleman says that in early 2012 a 17-year-old boy raped her while she was drunk, while another boy filmed the act.
A prosecutor dismissed the case two months after it was filed for what he said was lack of evidence and the victim’s refusal to cooperate, though Coleman’s mother says she is willing to cooperate.
The case resurfaced earlier this month when the Kansas City Star published an in-depth report and the Internet activist group Anonymous waged an online campaign on Coleman’s behalf.
[AP]