Highway Patrol turns down CPD request to review Manthe relationship

The Missouri State Highway Patrol rejected a request from the Columbia Police Department to review its relationship with a convicted pimp.

The police department began an internal review of its ties to Barry Manthe, a man convicted on federal charges of promoting prostitution. Manthe’s relationship with CPD was called into question by a Citizens of Justice documentary series that chronicled the department’s run-ins with Manthe for decades. Interim Police Chief Geoff Jones told ABC 17 News in February that the department would conduct a review of its ties to Manthe.

Missouri State Highway Patrol spokeman Capt. John Hotz said that Col. Eric Olson turned down CPD’s request to review its work. Sgt. Shawn Griggs of the patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control told ABC 17 News that CPD asked for the review in late April, but the patrol denied it due to its policies.

Jones said on Friday that he would wait for official word from the patrol before commenting.

Manthe was arrested and charged in federal court in 2017 for using Backpage to promote prostitutes from his house. He received an 18-month prison sentence, while co-defendants Ronald Clark and Kenneth Jones received a 30-month and 15-year prison sentence respectively.

The documentary series, “Police Protected Pimp,” details several investigations law enforcement conducted into Manthe’s various prostitution operations in Boone County. The series includes interviews with people who worked at the house who claimed Manthe used drugs to keep women there, and that Manthe often threatened the women with his relationship to CPD as a confidential informant that could get them in trouble if they left.

Jones said in February that he did not know what level of control Manthe had over the women who used his Vandiver Drive home to get paid for sex work.

“I don’t know if they were sex workers given a place to operate out of, or if he had some type of control over them, and they were being trafficked truly,” Jones said. “I don’t know the answer to that. So to imply that me or anyone else did is, in my mind, false.”

Stephen Wyse, an attorney who represented Jones in the case, said CPD’s internal review was too conflicted to be trusted. Deputy Chief Jill Schlude, who led the review, is married to Sgt. Roger Schlude, who worked on the Street Crimes Unit and allegedly made frequent contact with Manthe.

“In this situation, you cannot have CPD reviewing CPD’s misconduct,” Wyse said.

It’s still unclear what the results of CPD’s review contain.