Dexter chief of police resigns

DEXTER, Mo. -- A Southeast Missouri police chief accused of hindering prosecution has resigned.

Dexter Mayor Joe Weber said he would accept the resignation of Police Chief Ken Rinehart effective Nov. 12. Rinehart offered his resignation to city officials Tuesday and made no comments concerning his decision.

Rinehart and police Sgt. Sammy Stone were indicted by a grand jury in January and accused of concealing a case where former officer Robert Kennedy had nonconsensual sex with a woman.

Kennedy was arrested last July and later pleaded guilty to deviant sexual intercourse, along with two charges of statutory rape in a separate case. He was sentenced to five years of probation.

In June, Rinehart and Stone were granted a venue change to Dunklin County by Scott County Associate Circuit Judge David Mann, the third judge assigned to hear the cases.

Stoddard County Prosecutor Briney Welborn called Dunklin County "the best place to go," because of less publicity about the case there.