Matthew Barnes served his time for these three acts (fondling 11- to 13- year-old boys) that he committed two decades ago when he was their 19-year-old scout leader. He presumably paid into the victim’s restitution fund that his case file quotes the judge saying he would have to pay. His expressed deep regret for his crimes, which he aptly called “heinous”. There is still apparently no evidence that he ever offended again in the subsequent two decades, despite claims that he has had ample opportunity. He quietly resigned his state ExCom seat when his court file first circulated. His county knew of his record when they subsequently elected him Vice Chair in October. Even though the cause stated for his January suspension proceeding was that he “stood for election and was elected to Executive Committee on false pretenses”, he resigned even from the county office he had won with his record known. The LPCA Judicial Committee overturned his suspension by a 5-0 vote. Barnes was also accused of “lying” to the ExCom, but the accusation turned out to be just that he violated an “understanding” floating in the air of a 3-person private conversation, carrying the “implication” that resigning from LPCA’s ExCom means never accepting county office even if his record is disclosed. As of January, Barnes holds no LPCA office at any level.
The LPCA has succeeded in divorcing Barnes from all LPCA offices without attracting any more attention in the Google-News-indexed media beyond the one initial Nov. 6 story in the San Bernardino Sun. Barnes's membership in the LPCA is no threat to any child with responsible parents, as no such parent leaves a child alone with any adult who they haven't personally determined to be trustworthy. If any of you think that your LPCA membership card is a ticket to being alone with any of my daughters, you are profoundly mistaken.
The LPCA convention will be covered by Independent Political Report, whose news stories are indexed and archived by Google News. If Barnes's status as a dues-payer is turned into a public controversy at the convention, with attendant resignations or threats thereof, then the LPCA will have shined its brightest possible light on this story, without one iota of extra protection being generated for anyone's kids.
Our Judicial Committee in effect acts as a grand jury for the LPCA, with the power to review and dismiss weak charges without those charges causing needless harm to the reputation of the LPCA or its members. Our five JudCom members together have over a century of experience in the LPCA, and have its best interests at heart. I'm neither a "radical" nor an anarchist, but I fully support the decision of Mark Hinkle and Less Antman and the rest of the JudCom to overturn the suspension of a man I wish I didn't have to speak up for.
I'm proud that we have JudCom members willing to put their reputations on the line in defense of the due-process rights of even someone like Barnes. Our Judicial Committee members believe that our rules prevent them from defending their decision even to a closed audience of LPCA members. That raises the question: who will defend the defenders?
Brian Holtz
Father of three girls: 9, 6, & 3 years old
Director, Purissima Hills Water District 2009-
LPCA Executive Committee 2007-2009
LP candidate for Congress 2004, 2006, 2008
Vice Chair, 2010 LPUS Platform Committee
Secretary, 2008 LPUS Platform Committee
LPCA rep to 2006 LPUS Platform Committee
LPCA Platform Committee 2005-2006
LP San Mateo Newsletter Chair 2004-2005