Missouri state senator says a ‘sexual predator’ works in the Capitol Building

Accusations that a sexual predator is working in the Missouri Capitol Building with protection from “powerful people” abruptly ended state Senate debate Wednesday on a bill adding physician assistants and emergency medical personnel to medical providers covered by a peer review process.

The Senate had just defeated an amendment to the bill offered by state Sen. Nick Schroer, a Republican from Defiance, to make some records from peer review proceedings available for lawsuits alleging deliberate acts against patients.

The amendment was needed, he said, to open up records of sexual assaults and other criminal acts.

Defeat of the amendment offended Democratic state Sen. Tracy McCreery of Olivette, and she was discussing the defeat with state Sen. Stephen Webber of Columbia when he dropped the accusation.

“There are sexual predators who work in this building,” Webber said. “There are powerful people who know who those people are and are protecting them. That is happening right now.”

Webber said he could not reveal the identity of the person he was accusing nor could he reveal any details of where in the Capitol the person worked or the position of the person who told him of the problem.

He had promised the victims confidentiality, he said.

McCreery said she, too, was aware of the problem, and understood the desire of the victim to remain anonymous.

“I am respectful of that as well,” McCreery said. “But I’m also very careful with my group of people.”

Interviewed after the Senate adjourned, Webber said he could not give any more details. When lawmakers are in session, there are executive branch officials and staff, legislators and staff, lobbyists, contract cleaning crews and representatives of the media working in the Capitol Building.

“If the victims wanted me to say something, I would,” Webber said. “If they wanted me to name names, I would. The victims don’t want me to, so I’m not going to.”

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Rusty Black, a Republican from Chillicothe, would create new training requirements for ambulance district board members in addition to making emergency medical personnel subject to the peer review process.

Schroer said the peer review process, which is completely confidential under state law, is being used to hide sexual mistreatment of patients and the response of employers.

“They are using this old, archaic statute that was meant for good, and finding that if they put anything into the system they can conceal it,” Schroer said after the Senate adjourned for the day.

Schroer said he was not aware of the accusations discussed by McCreery and Webber.

In her discussion with Webber, McCreery noted that victims of sexual assault had been visiting with lawmakers during the day to advocate for stronger laws.

The review process is being used to conceal too much, she said.

“When this process, this formal peer review process, has been worked and twisted enough that it’s now being used to hide allegations of sexual assault and sexual abuse, that is wrong,” she said. “Why are we willing to protect abusers?”

Webber said he had no answer to that question. That is when he began discussing the problem in the Missouri Capitol.

“I will say there’s certainly people, powerful people in this building,” Webber said, “who, beyond any doubt, I’m not alleging, I know for a fact, of powerful people in this building who are currently protecting sexual predators.”

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