Children of incoming Missouri lawmaker ask House to block him amid abuse allegations
The adult children of a Missouri man elected to the General Assembly are imploring the next speaker of the House not to seat him, saying they all suffered some combination of physical, mental and sexual abuse by him.
The extraordinary plea marks a last-ditch effort by the children of Rep-elect Rick Roeber to stop him from taking office after voters in House District 34, which represents parts of Lee’s Summit, narrowly elected him last week. Roeber, a Republican, has denied the allegations.
“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,” Anastasia Roeber, Samson Roeber and Gabrielle Galeano wrote in a letter to House Speaker-elect Rob Vescovo, an Arnold Republican, on Monday.
The Missouri and Kansas legislatures both face the upcoming admission of newly-elected lawmakers accused of abusive behavior. In both states, legislative leaders face calls to block the representatives-elect from serving. The rare step to reject the will of voters is allowed in some circumstances under the rules of both the Kansas and Missouri House.
In Kansas, 20-year-old Aaron Coleman, a Democrat, won a seat in the House after being accused of—and acknowledging—abusive behavior. An ex-girlfriend of Coleman’s has alleged he was abusive toward her; he was also charged at 14 with threatening a shooting at a school. On Thursday, Coleman sent a tweet predicting Gov. Laura Kelly would face an “extremely bloody” Democratic primary and adding that people “will realize one day when I call a hit out on you it’s real.”
Roeber’s children went public with their allegations in The Star in September. Anastasia Roeber, his adopted daughter, said he made improper sexual advances toward her in 1990, when she was 9. Samson Roeber said he suffered physical abuse as a child. And Gabrielle Galeano said she was aware of the alleged abuse while living with Anastasia, Samson and another sibling.
“As the highest office holder in the Missouri House, we are begging you to not allow this to happen,” Roeber’s children wrote to Vescovo.
The process for removing an elected representative is arduous in both states.
Under the Missouri Constitution, the House can expel Roeber with a two-thirds vote. House rules also authorize an ethics committee to investigate complaints against lawmakers and recommend expulsion.
Kansas House rules don’t appear to outline any way to stop Coleman from taking office in January. But they do provide for a process to investigate and ultimately expel him once he’s sworn in.
If a complaint is lodged against Coleman, a committee with equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats would investigate and could recommend expulsion or a lesser punishment, such as censure.
After receiving the committee’s report, a two-thirds vote of the House would be required to expel Coleman. House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat, said he plans to file a complaint to initiate the expulsion process.
“Coleman’s actions - both past and present - prove him absolutely unfit to serve the people of Kansas,” Sawyer said in a statement. “Kansas House Democrats will take every necessary step to ensure Coleman is not seated in the Legislature. With Republican cooperation, I believe we can resolve this issue, and find a replacement who is competent, stable, and principled to serve the 37th District.”
Coleman didn’t respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. He previously told the Associated Press he didn’t believe he could be removed for prior misconduct. “Until I break the public’s trust and I break my oath of office, you know, you cannot undo the results of democracy,” Coleman said.
House Speaker Ron Ryckman, an Olathe Republican who is seeking a third term as speaker, said he was aware of comments from legislative leaders about not seating Coleman.
“Under House rules if a complaint is made against any sitting representative there is a process to investigate and consider action,” Ryckman said in a statement. “But there is no method by which someone chosen by the voters can be refused the seat they were elected to hold.”
Kansas legislators in 2018 weighed whether to expel another member, Wichita Republican Michael Capps, who faced allegations of emotional abuse of children. He denied the charges and ultimately no action was taken. He was defeated in the Republican primary in August.
In Missouri, Vescovo and other Republican leaders in a joint statement Tuesday promised to “thoroughly investigate” the allegations against Roeber. They said Roeber isn’t currently a member of the House Republican caucus and that the caucus would meet on Dec. 14 to discuss Roeber.
“As a party and a caucus we work tirelessly to protect the health and well-being of our young people, and we have a zero tolerance policy for anyone who would endanger or abuse a child. The adult children of newly-elected state Representative Rick Roeber have made very troubling allegations regarding abuse that occurred when they were young,” the statement said.
House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, a Springfield Democrat who had been pressuring Republicans to take action, said she was encouraged by the announcement from Republican leaders. She said Democrats are hopeful action will be taken to stop Roeber from taking office.
“However, these allegations are not new, and we regret that his children have had to relive their abuse for the last several months. This could have been avoided if Republican leadership had strongly denounced Roeber before the election instead of waiting until after,” Quade said in a statement.
The allegations against Roeber were published on Sept. 29. A number of legislators during the election called on Roeber to withdraw. Jean Evans, director of the Missouri GOP, told the podcast EladPod in early October that if the allegations are true, “he’s certainly disqualified from office and probably should be in jail.” She also said she didn’t know if the allegations were true.
Roeber didn’t respond to a call and email Tuesday. He previously denied any abuse in an email to The Star’s editorial board.
“Please, think if someone did this to your children,” Roeber’s children wrote to Vescovo. “Is this the type of characteristics of someone who should be leading our state?”
This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 12:57 PM.
