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Roberts will not face charges over Walker rape allegations

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting that Representative-elect Steven Roberts Jr. will not face charges after fellow Representative-elect Cora Faith Walker accused him of raping her in a letter sent last month.

Special prosecuting attorney Tim Lohmar said that there was not enough “credible evidence” to suggest that anything non-consensual had happened between the two.

In September, Walker shocked the state with the accusation that after visiting Roberts’ apartment to discuss working in the General Assembly together, she lost consciousness after two glasses of wine and woke up in Roberts’ apartment. She sent a letter to Speaker Todd Richardson and House Democratic Party leadership, asking Richardson to do everything in his power to prevent Roberts from being seated.

In his statement at the time, Richardson said that the alleged conduct would not be tolerated in the House of Representatives.

“While the House has no jurisdiction over non-members, we will monitor the criminal investigation closely and continue to have a zero-tolerance policy for sexual assault, misconduct and harassment,” Richardson said.

Walker also sat down with Post-Dispatch columnist and reporter Tony Messenger, who initially broke the story, to discuss the incident that happened in late August, which prompted another accuser of Roberts to share her experience of sexual misconduct.

Scott Rosenblum, Roberts’ lawyer, told the Post-Dispatch that he was not surprised by Lohmar’s decision.

“We believed from the beginning that her allegation was completely unfounded, and we have evidence to conclusively contradict her,”Rosenblum said.

Both Roberts and Walker are unopposed in the Nov. 8 elections.

Lohmar, the prosecuting attorney for St. Charles County oversaw the case because Roberts once worked for St. Louis Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce.