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After a week of public outcry and victim accounts about the Maryville rape case, authorities in the small Missouri town are finally jumping into action.

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker promised Monday to review sexual assault allegations in Maryville, Mo., “without fear and without favor” after 4th Circuit Associate Judge Glen Dietrich named her the special prosecutor in the case.

Baker accepted the appointment Monday and said a special staff in her office would begin investigating immediately.

“I will be directly involved in the review,” she said. “Politics, connections, or any other reason you can think of, will not play a role in our review of this case. It will be the evidence.”

If you recall, Daisy Coleman and a friend were sexually assaulted by a high school senior and his friend in Maryville. Felony and misdemeanor charges against the two suspects were dropped by Nodaway County Prosecutor Robert L. Rice. He claimed he dropped the case because of lack of evidence and cooperation from the Coleman’s.

But get this:

Rice, the Nodaway County prosecutor, is a Republican. One of the alleged assault suspects, Matthew Barnett, is the grandson of a once-prominent Nodaway County Republican state legislator. The teen said the sex with Daisy was consensual.

Tricky.

But the newly appointed Baker, who is a Democrat, vows that she will find real answers in the case.

“I’m going to ask the community as well for patience,” she said. “This is going to be a process.”

Here’s hoping that this time around, justice will be served.

SOURCE: Kansas City Star | PHOTO CREDIT: Kansas City Star