Sex case raises issues of politics, privilege in Bootheel

NEW MADRID, Mo. -- A high-profile sex case in New Madrid has some people questioning whether a woman from a prominent family can be tried fairly in the Bootheel town or if politics and privilege will prevail.

Last week, a prosecutor and a judge said they were removing themselves from the case, and the defendant's attorney said he hoped to move it out of New Madrid County altogether.

Rebecca "Susan" Sharp, 47, a middle school teacher, is charged with having sex with three underage teenage boys -- none of them her students -- at her home Oct. 17 and giving them prescription medication. Sharp has declined to comment but her attorney said she "absolutely denies" the charges.

Her father, Van Sharp, was the county's circuit clerk for more than 40 years, and her mother runs a popular catering business. So when bail was set at $25,000 after Susan Sharp's arrest late last month, some cried favoritism.

"It's like one big soap opera," Andy Hayes, 16, a friend of one of the boys, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

School officials removed Sharp from her duties after learning that she would be charged Oct. 25. She had taught in the county for 12 years, including the past six as a teacher of gifted students at New Madrid Central Middle School.

The boys' families and supporters say an allegation against Sharp last school year was mishandled and didn't result in charges. Authorities said there wasn't enough to go on.

Information in the new case emerged after a 15-year-old boy tried to kill himself with an overdose of an anti-anxiety drug last month.

During a routine follow-up by the sheriff's department, the teen disclosed that he and Sharp had had sex the week before he attempted suicide. He said he'd struggled with suicidal thoughts and gone to Sharp's home, taking more of her pills and, he believed, having sex with her again.

The sheriff's department also took statements from three other boys, all 14, who described an evening of kissing, oral sex, intercourse and pill-popping at Sharp's home on Oct. 17.

Multiple charges

Sharp was charged the following week with one count of second-degree statutory rape, two counts of second-degree statutory sodomy and one count of distributing a controlled substance to minors.

Townspeople became angry when Sharp's bail was set at $25,000, said Andy Hayes.

"If she didn't have that last name, it'd be half a million dollars," he said.

Associate Circuit Judge Charles Spitler said bail is intended to ensure a defendant makes court dates, not inflict punishment.

"I felt assured that would be the right bond," Spitler said. "It's just that simple."

Mike Barnes, superintendent of New Madrid schools, said the fact that none of Sharp's accusers were her students and that the alleged incidents did not occur at school were important aspects of the case.

But some residents are upset that no charges were filed after Sharp was accused last May of trying to seduce a 16-year-old boy.

Sheriff Terry Stevens said the boy had recanted under questioning. Barnes said he looked into the allegation, too, but that Sharp denied it.

The 16-year-old's aunt, Elizabeth Hunt, said she felt the legal system and school district "failed us."

"And I think there's been a cover-up of it," Hunt said.

Stevens said he realizes that tension was high in the current case but that he believes it has been handled fairly.

"I feel confident the system will work for the Sharps and the victims," the sheriff said. "It'll play itself out, the system will."

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com