(Update) 2:17pm — A Maryville teenager has pleaded guilty and been granted probation in a case that drew national and international attention.

Matthew Barnett will not face the more serious, sexual assault charges that were dismissed earlier.

 

A special prosecutor, Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney Jean Peters-Baker, gave the case a second look, and says the evidence does not support the more serious charge.

Peters-Baker on Thursday said a plea agreement has been in the works for some time. Barnett was required to write an apology to the victim Daisy, who remains hospitalized after a suicide attempt.

Barnett was ordered to serve two years probation.

He is also required to serve 100 hours of community service, and pay $1,800 in restitution to the victim.

Peters-Baker was brought in to take another look at the case last October. Nodaway County Prosecutor Robert Rice said he dismissed the original charges against Barnett because the victim and her mother quit cooperating, an assertion they both deny.

On January 8, 2012, Daisy, then 14, and a 13-year-old friend, said they were given alcohol and raped during a get-together with Barnett and two other students. One of the boys reportedly recorded part of the incident on video, but investigators said they have never seen the video.

The second degree misdemeanor charge stems from leaving the passed out, teenage girl outside her home with no shoes in the bitter January cold. She was found there by her mother.

Barnett is the grandson of a prominent, Nodaway County Republican. There were widespread accusations that Rice, also a Republican, gave the youth preferential treatment.