11:00 a.m.  Update (AP) — The Missouri attorney general’s office says it has no power to reopen an investigation into allegations that two teenage girls were

sexually assaulted by some boys at a party in 2012.

The case is drawing renewed attention after The Kansas City Star on Sunday published the results  of a seven-month investigation into the case in Maryville.

Melinda Coleman says justice was denied when Nodaway County authorities dropped charges in 2012 against the boys who her 14-year-old daughter claimed had sexually assaulted her and a 13-year-old friend.

County officials say the case against the boys fell apart because the Colemans would not cooperate. Coleman denies that.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Chris Koster said Tuesday that Koster’s office lacks the authority to review a local prosecutor’s decisions in particular cases.

 

6:40 a.m. After the Kansas City Star revisited the story of a sex-assault case in Maryville, the phone’s are ringing off the hook there.   CNN picked up the story on Monday.

The mother of the Albany teenager at the center of the case told the Star Monday she hoped the fresh attention would prompt local authorities to take another look at it.

In early 2012, officials dismissed the most serious charges, citing lack of evidence after they say the victim and her family refused to cooperate with authorities.

The victim now says she’s willing to testify in court if the case were reopened

The town’s rumor-mill had another take on the dismissal of charges. Many accused officials of dismissing the charges because one of the suspects was the grandson of a former long-time legislator from Maryville.

The victim was found nearly unconscious outside her home the morning after an overnight, alcohol-fueled tryst.

A high-school senior was charged with sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Another teenager was charged with sexual exploitation of a minor. A third teen was charged with using a smart phone to record video one of the encounters.

The most serious charges were dismissed.

The newspaper reports that a stream of harassment against the family soon followed, and the mother lost her own job as a veterinarian. They moved out of town. Their Maryville house, up for sale, later burned to the ground. No cause has been determined.

On Monday, the city manager’s office in Maryville was inundated with phone calls, emails and social media comments regarding the case.

The hacker group Anonymous released a statement taking Maryville officials to task:

“We demand an immediate investigation into the handling by local authorities of [the] case. Why was a suspect, who confessed to a crime, released with no charges? How was video and medical evidence not enough to put one of these football players inside a court room? What is the connection of these prosecutors, if any, to [the state Representative]? Most of all, We are wondering, how do the residents of Maryville sleep at night?

“If Maryville won’t defend these young girls, if the police are too cowardly or corrupt to do their jobs, if justice system has abandoned them, then we will have to stand for them. Mayor Jim Fall, your hands are dirty. Maryville, expect us.”