Grand jury indicts two Dexter police officers

Monday, January 21, 2002

DEXTER -- The Dexter Chief of Police and another officer have been arrested after a Stoddard County grand jury handed down several indictments on Friday.

Police Chief Kenneth Rinehart and officer Sammy Stone were each taken into custody Friday after warrants were issued for their arrests. Both were indicted on Class D felonies of hindering prosecution and their bond was set at $15,000 each. Both men were processed at the Stoddard County Jail and were released on cash bond pending a court appearance.

The grand jury was convened to investigate the Dexter Police Department after former officer Robert Kennedy was arrested in July on several charges of improper sexual activities.

Kennedy later resigned from the police department and pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory rape and one count of deviant sexual intercourse. He did not go to jail however, receiving a sentence of five years supervised probation while also having to register as a sex offender with the state of Missouri. Kennedy also agreed to cooperate with authorities on any other possible investigations.

The controversy within the Dexter Police Department continued as Rinehart submitted his formal resignation to the Dexter Board of Alderman. However, they in turn rejected the resignation to show their support for the police chief.

The grand jury was called by Circuit Judge Stephen R. Sharp in the fall and was seated at the beginning of last week at the Stoddard County courthouse in Bloomfield.

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