Barrett says he didn't hit his son

By Brian D. Bridgeford / News Republic

Former Libertarian Party U.S. Congress candidate Kevin J. Barrett asserted his innocence Wednesday in the face of allegations he swatted one of his children as he confronted the next step in his legal cases in Sauk County Circuit Court.

Barrett, 49, now of Black River Falls, was in court to face misdemeanor disorderly conduct and bail jumping charges stemming from incidents on Sept. 9 and 13.

His attorney, Greg Sacra of Baraboo, said after receiving an offer from the county prosecutor they were not prepared to settle the case.

"Mr. Barrett pleads not guilty," Sacra said. "We ask to be put on the trial calendar."

Barrett and Sacra said they had no comment as they left the courtroom a few minutes after their hearing began. As is routine court procedure, no trial date has been set pending pre-trial arguments by the parties.

According to the criminal complaint, Barrett's wife told a Sauk County deputy sheriff he was sleeping the morning of the primary election when one of his children was making noise in their home near Arena. Barrett charged out of the bedroom saying "that's it" and the boy said Barrett struck him on the back.

The bail jumping charge stems from a few days later when police say Barrett picked up the car his wife was using from outside a Madison home where she and the children were staying. When he was charged with disorderly conduct, Barrett had been ordered to stay away from his wife and was allowed to pick up personal property only after notifying her in advance and with a law enforcement officer present. That is the routine manner in which domestic dispute incidents are handled.

Barrett says his wife concocted the story of him striking the child because she was trying to extort money from him. His wife has also been unhappy with the attention he gets for his advocacy of the idea the United States government, not foreign terrorists, caused the collapse of the World Trade Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

If he were convicted, Barrett faces a penalty of up to nine months jail and a $10,000 fine for bail jumping and a maximum of 90 days jail time and a $1,000 fine on the disorderly conduct charge.

Barrett received 8,236 votes or about 2.3 percent of the total in his run for Wisconsin's 3rd District U.S. House seat, according to the Government Accountability Board. Incumbent Representative Ron Kind won re-election, taking 225,208 votes, or 63 percent of the total, against Republican Party candidate Paul Stark with 122,760 votes or 34 percent.