Former state rep. won t face charges over Norwalk porn incident

5/6/2008

NORWALK, Ohio A Democratic state lawmaker who resigned after his computer displayed an image of a topless woman during a presentation to high school students will not face criminal charges.

Norwalk Law Director Stu O Hara says former Rep. Matthew Barrett of Amherst will not be prosecuted for lying to police about whether he knew women who appeared topless in images on his computer.

The image was projected after Barrett inserted a data memory stick into the computer for a lecture on how a bill becomes a law. He was speaking in October to a U.S. government class of about 20 students in the northern Ohio city of Norwalk.

Barrett first said he didn t know how the image had become intermingled with his graphics presentation. He later acknowledged that he had not been truthful about the matter and resigned.