Rick Roeber, a Republican candidate for the 34th District Missouri House of Representatives, is dealing with allegations from decades ago that he physically abused three of his four children. The allegations were uncovered and reported on by The Kansas City Star on Tuesday, and they are distressing. Roeber is running to replace his wife, who died suddenly while still holding the seat in 2019.

According to the Star, two of Roeber’s now-adult children went on record with the paper. Anastasia Roeber alleges that Roeber sexually molested her when she was 9 years old in 1990. Her brother Samson says that while he was not molested by Roeber, Roeber had “always been physically abusive” when they were growing up. A third sibling told the paper that she was aware of the alleged abuse at the time, and a fourth unnamed sibling also claimed “sexual maltreatment” from Roeber. That last allegation was reportedly investigated by the state of Missouri in 2001.



Roeber made a name for himself locally in the aughts as “Barefoot Rick,” an early adopter of the barefoot running movement, which he combined with a born-again story Christianity story. Roeber claims in his biography to have been an on again off again Christian whose “waywardness” included serious issues of addiction. He reportedly was able to have finally “recommitted his life to Christ” in March 1992 when he put the "plug in the jug.”

Roeber’s “waywardness” seems to have included a lot of abusive behavior, according to his kids. His son Samson told The Star: “He beat the s--t out of us all the time.” Gabrielle, the daughter who says she was aware of the abuse claims but was not abused herself, says she is estranged from her siblings because they partly blamed her for the abuse. Roeber “used me, I guess, as his little stooge. I would tell him little things that happened at my mother’s house, and he would use that to punish the boys. … My brothers hate me.” Gabrielle says that her father was “out of control” at that time in his life.