Oh, sure, blame the kid ...

You may remember a semi-amusing news item last fall about Ohio state Rep. Matt Barrett of Amherst, who inadvertently flashed a photo of a nude woman on his computer while giving a civics lesson to a high school class. The photo was just one of several on a flash drive Barrett brought from home for his presentation. "I have no idea where these came from," he said at the time, saying he received the device as a gift.

The next day, however, the freshman Democrat explained it as "an internal family matter," requesting "respect for our privacy as we deal with this situation." House Minority Leader Joyce Beatty backed him up, saying, "This situation is a matter between him, his teenaged son and his family."

Yeah, right. Ohio House Democrats announced Barrett's resignation Thursday morning, saying he stepped down "after he admitted he was not truthful about the photos displayed ... during a classroom presentation." According to a lawmaker contacted by the Cleveland Plain Dealer, nude photos of two women from Barrett's district were on the flash drive. "It became clear that Rep. Barrett had not been forthright with me and his colleagues," Beatty said.

So Barrett is gone, but evidently not forgotten. As of 5 p.m. Thursday he was still listed as a House member and his biographical page was still up on its Web site. Let's see how long it takes to change that.

UPDATE: Still there as of 10 a.m. Monday 4/28.

Meanwhile, rumor may or may not have it that the device will continue to be used in legislative training sessions on "How A Bill Becomes Law." They don't call them flash drives for nothing.