Dexter police chief receives council support

DEXTER, Mo. -- Just days before he appears in court on charges of hindering prosecution of a case, the police chief at Dexter, Ken Rinehart, got a vote of confidence at this week's meeting of the Board of Aldermen.

Alderman Tim Crutchfield told the audience that until he had all the details on the indictments of Rinehart and police Sgt. Sammy Stone, he would not pass judgment.

"I am not going to vote to fire anyone," he said. "There's a law that you are innocent until proven guilty. Nobody's been proven guilty of anything."

Crutchfield implied in his statement that he had received pressure from unnamed sources to vote to dismiss Rinehart and Stone.

Both Rinehart and Stone were charged in grand jury indictments of allegedly hindering the prosecution in the case of former Dexter police officer Robert Kennedy, who was found guilty last summer of improper sexual conduct. Rinehart and Stone were to appear today in circuit court in Bloomfield, Mo.

"For those who keep trying to pressure me, my remarks are 'Let he who is without sin cast the first stone,'" Crutchfield said.

Crutchfield's remarks were met with applause.

No other alderman made remarks on the matter.