The parents of one of the accused Maryville rapists, Matthew Barnett, 19, are speaking out about the unfair pain and suffering endured by their son in light of the “one-sided” rape accusations.

Speaking to the Daily Mail on Wednesday, Shirley Barnett told a reporter that although her son is struggling, the truth will come out: “The more you dig, you will get closer to the truth. It is not on the surface, you’re going to have to dig for it. Unfortunately we can’t help with that because that is not our personality.”

But their non-digging personality does allow them to defend their son’s innocence because, apparently, rapists can't suck at football. According to Barnett’s father, “My kid is being assassinated. The way this has all been spun, for example my son being a football star, he was not a football star, he was a back up.” Case closed.

Mrs. Barnett also thinks Melinda Coleman, Daisy Coleman’s mother, is making it seem as if the "whole thing" is "one-sided."

And when asked how their son, who is now at the University of Central Missouri, was coping, Mr. Barnett said he was "facing some major issues."

His wife added added: 'Is Matthew OK? How can you go through this and be OK, you can’t go through this experience and be OK.

'You can’t have your picture plastered all over the world news and be portrayed as something when you know in your heart what happened and be OK. How can anybody in our family be OK over this?'

Good question.

[Image via KMALand]