COLUMBUS The surprise sex-ed lesson inadvertently flashed before a Norwalk High School social studies class by a state representative Tuesday was apparently downloaded onto the lawmaker s portable memory drive by his teenage son.
We want to put this behind us, said Rep. Matt Barrett (D., Amherst) in a prepared statement. From what we ve learned thus far, this is an internal family matter. We would appreciate respect for our privacy as we deal with this situation.
The 41-year-old attorney and freshman lawmaker representing eastern Seneca, Huron, and southwestern Lorain counties was talking to a high school class of 19 students Tuesday morning about state government when images of naked women flashed onto the projector screen instead of the PowerPoint presentation he had expected.
The images had apparently been downloaded onto a portable flash drive onto which Mr. Barrett later downloaded a standard government presentation authored by the National Confer-ence of State Legislatures.
This situation is a matter between him, his teenaged son, and his family, said House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty (D., Columbus). This is not legislative. This is not political. This is purely personal. We consider this matter a moot point.
The former Amherst city councilman and his wife have four children: three boys and a girl.
Norwalk police asked the Ohio Highway Patrol to examine Mr. Barrett s personal laptop, the portable flash drive, and two school computers. Lt. Tony Bradshaw, highway patrol spokesman, said that process is continuing and the results will be forwarded to Norwalk.
Norwalk police yesterday referred calls to Huron County Prosecuting Attorney Russ Leffler, who said he had nothing new to say about the investigation.
However, the highway patrol said it is examining whether the images on the flash drive were time-stamped as to when they were downloaded to determine whether Mr. Barrett would have been in a position to do it.
It remains to be seen what impact, if any, the situation could have on Democrats hopes next year of holding onto what has traditionally been a Republican-leaning district and to wrest control of the Ohio House from GOP hands.
Mr. Barrett, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2004, took advantage of a banner year for Democrats in 2006 to unseat a Republican incumbent, Dan White, who was appointed to replace Kathleen Walcher. She resigned in her second two-year term.
Contact Jim Provance at: jprovance@theblade.com, or 614-221-0496.
First Published October 5, 2007, 1:19 p.m.