Former Deputy Found Dead In Jail

A former sheriff’s deputy facing federal and state charges of sexually abusing women and enticing a minor in prostitution was found dead in jail Saturday morning.

Marty Rainey, 52, was found dead Saturday morning in the Ste. Genevieve County jail. The death is assumed to be a suicide.

According to ABC News, a federal jury indicted Rainey in March in St. Louis, Missouri. Rainey faced life in prison if found guilty of the charges.

Rainey served as a police officer for Missouri areas, as well as serving as deputy, where he had allegedly been charged with two counts of sexual assault and acceding to corruption by a public servant, as well as a statutory rape charge and the use of a child in a sexual performance. Charges were filed in January, 2015.

Rainey resigned from the sheriff’s office in 2012, one month after a complaint was filed from a mental health counselor. The state police were then contacted and asked to further the investigation.

In 2011, Rainey detained a woman on suspicion of a DWI, once he discovered that she was an exotic dancer, Rainey used his authority to force her to strip and took photographs of her genitals and later returned to her home to take more explicit photographs.

In another case, Rainey was sending explicit text messages and making explicit phone calls to a mentally handicapped woman. The mother of the women had recently been a victim in a crime and Rainey had told the mother that he would help but only if her daughter would send her nude photographs.

Christian Goeke, Rainey’s defense attorney who was trying to get him released on bail, reported that federal marshals contacted him about Rainey’s death.

Court documents state that Rainey threatened six women into having sex with him, sometimes while he was in uniform.

The reports say that the death seemed to be a suicide, but no confirmation has been made.

Ste. Genevieve County Sheriff’s Major Jason Schott said the Missouri State Highway Patrol was investigating an “in-custody death,” which is standard procedure.

“At this point, it appears to be a suicide, but the investigation is ongoing,” he said.

Prosecutors opposed the release, partly because of the serious nature of the charges and concerns about Rainey’s mental health.

“[Rainey’s death] is certainly not an outcome that our office was seeking. I have sympathy for this family,” U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan said.

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