Former House Speaker Charged With Felony Assault After Sexual Encounter

Former Missouri House Speaker Rod Jetton
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The former speaker of the Missouri House has been charged with a felony after what looks like a bout of sado-masochistic sex that went way too far.

Details are still unconfirmed, we should note. But a woman appears to have suggested to police that Rod Jetton, a Republican who now works as a political consultant, may have slipped something into her drink, then beat her up during sex, after she failed to use the safe word they had agreed upon as a signal to calm things down.

Here’s what we know: The woman, who lives in Sikeston, Missouri, told police that Jetton and she spoke by phone on November 15th about their plans to have sex that night, according to the blog of a TV station. Several hours later, she says, he went to her home with two bottles of wine. According to the woman, Jetton poured the wine in the kitchen, out of her view. He then returned to the living room and handed her a glass. While they were watching a football game, the woman says, she started ‘fading’ in and out and lost consciousness several times.

The woman added that she and Jetton had agreed on the phrase “green balloons” as a “safe word” that she could use if things got too rough during sex. That’s not uncommon among people who enjoy sex that involves dominance and submission.

But somehow things seem to have gotten way out of hand. The police report continues:

[The woman] recalls Jetton hitting her on the face very hard. She then remembers waking up, lying on the floor and Jetton was choking her. [The woman] said she did not know what happened with her memory because she had been drunk but had never had the blank spots in her memory.

According to the formal complaint filed against Jetton, he “recklessly caused serious physical injury” to the woman “by hitting her on the head, and choking her resulting in unconsciousness and the loss of the function of part of her body.”

Jetton then stayed the night, says the woman. When he woke up, she says, he kissed her and said, “You should have said green balloons.” He then left and hasn’t returned.

According to the Riverfront Times, a St.Louis alternative weekly, police reportedly have photos that show bruises on the woman’s thighs and breasts but not on her face.

Jetton, 42, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2000, and became speaker in 2005. He was term limited out in 2008. According to Wikipedia, he and his wife divorced in October after over 20 years of marriage.

Latest Muckraker
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: