A former Gasconade County sheriff's deputy - already facing state sex crime charges - now is accused in a federal indictment of sexually abusing four women and enticing a minor into prostitution.
Marty Rainey, 52, of Sullivan, remains in federal custody this weekend and will return to court Tuesday, Richard Callahan, the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Missouri, told the News Tribune on Friday afternoon.
"It's a tragedy when the group of officers that are supposed to protect people, it's one of that number who is actually hurting people," Callahan said. But he emphasized this case is the exception, not the rule, about law officers doing their jobs.
"Absolutely. It's a tragedy, but it doesn't reflect unfavorably on the thousands of men and women in law enforcement who go about their jobs every day doing a great job in protecting the public," Callahan said."
His St. Louis-based office reported Friday that Rainey was indicted Wednesday on charges that, between June 2010 and March 2012, he committed aggravated sexual abuse involving four women while serving in his capacity as a law enforcement officer.
The indictment also accuses Rainey of enticing a minor under the age of 18 to engage in prostitution in August 2012.
Callahan explained, "Under federal law, under 18 qualifies as a minor," which is different from state law.
The indictment noted Rainey was triple-commissioned as a law enforcement officer and employed by the Gasconade County Sheriff's Office, the Hermann Police Department and the Rosebud Police Department.
The Associated Press reported Friday that Gasconade County Sheriff Randy Esphorst and Rosebud's police chief were out of the office and unavailable for comment. A message left with Hermann's police chief seeking comment about the allegations was not returned immediately.
Callahan noted this week's federal charges are in addition to state charges filed in January 2015, when Rainey was charged with several crimes, including acceding to corruption by a public servant, sexual assault, statutory rape and use of a child in a sexual performance.
Rainey has pleaded not guilty in the case, and no trial date has been set.
His attorney in the state case withdrew as his defense counsel last month; messages left with that attorney were not returned.
The investigation began when a woman told Gasconade County sheriff's investigators she had sexual relations with Rainey and another man, and Rainey resigned in November 2012. The following year, the sheriff's office received additional complaints from other women who alleged they were sexually abused by Rainey. The investigation widened to include the Missouri Highway Patrol and the FBI.
Callahan told the News Tribune on Friday the state officials asked the federal officials to join the case.
"I want to give a lot of credit to the Highway Patrol, which really anchored this investigation," he said. "The federal law enforcement - we came into it late - and the credit and the labor really goes into the Highway Patrol and the early investigation that went on in this case."
Callahan said the federal case is more rooted in civil rights violations and crimes against federal law, while the state's case involves state laws.
"And civil rights violations, particularly by law enforcement officers, have always been something that's been a priority for the U.S. Department of Justice," he said.
A lawsuit filed by one of the women alleges Rainey's pursuit of her began in July 2012 when she called the sheriff's office to ask whether a protective order had been served on her estranged husband.
Her lawsuit says Rainey obtained the woman's personal contact information from the call, and over the next few weeks, he called her 87 times and sent 1,288 texts. Many of the text messages were sexually explicit.
Her lawsuit alleges Rainey picked her up in his patrol car in August 2012 and took her to an Owensville motel, where he sexually assaulted her - after secretly drugging a drink.
The Associated Press last year published the results of a yearlong investigation of sexual misconduct by U.S. law enforcement. It uncovered about 1,000 officers who lost their badges in a six-year period for rape, sodomy and other sex crimes.
However, that number is considered to be an under-count because it represents only those officers whose licenses to work in law enforcement were revoked, and not all states take such action.
In January, former Oklahoma City officer Daniel Holtzclaw was sentenced to 263 years in prison for raping and sexually victimizing women on his beat.