Boone County man sentenced after Missouri attorney general’s office helps clear sexual assault kit backlog

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Boone County man charged with forcible rape pleaded guilty in court on Friday and was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Andrew Barbee pleaded guilty to one count of forcible rape in 2010.

Original charges were never filed and the sexual assault kit was never sent to a lab.

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office worked with 169 law enforcement agencies to clear backlogs of untested, reported sexual assault kits has led to charges in three cases including this case.

The DNA was filed and a match was found in February 2021 after Barbee was convicted for child sex crimes.

According to online court records, Barbee was given credit for time served. He is currently spending 75 years in prison for the child sex crimes

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said, “When I launched the SAFE Kit Initiative in 2019, my ultimate goal was to obtain justice on behalf of the victims of these heinous crimes, and to keep victims front and center in everything we do. Judge M. Keithley Williams and her team have put in painstaking hours to get these kits inventoried and tested, and today’s guilty plea is undoubtedly a product of that hard work. While this is the first conviction obtained due to testing through the SAFE Kit Initiative, my Office will continue to work hard to ensure that it isn’t the last."

The victim anonymously said, "I would like to thank the Attorney General's office and all of the many people who made the Safe Kit Initiative possible, for their hard work. Without them, I likely never would have received justice. I would also like to thank the Boone County Prosecutor's office for taking on the case for prosecution. Waiting almost 12 years for justice has been hard, but I am so thankful this day has finally come. To other survivors out there still waiting for their justice, I pray that this gives you hope that one day you will finally see justice as well.”