Family driven out of small town and have their house burned to the ground after daughter, 14, accuses high school football player of rape

Melinda Coleman says she and her family had to leave Maryville, Missouri, after intense backlash when her daughter said she was raped at a party

Daisy Coleman was left intoxicated on her porch in 22-degree weather with no shoes or socks; when her mother found her she had frostbite



A friend of the athlete allegedly involved is accused of recording the sexual encounter on video



Both teens were ultimately cleared when a prosecutor dismissed all the charges, saying there was not enough evidence

Daisy Coleman became suicidal after she was allegedly raped at age 14, then tormented by cyber bullies, her mother says

A mother says she was driven from a rural Missouri town and her home mysteriously burned down after her 14-year-old daughter accused a popular football player of rape.

High school freshman Daisy Coleman was subjected to constant cyber-bullying from classmates - and even parents - in Maryville, Missouri, after she reported in January 2012 that she had been raped. She told police the 17-year-old boy invited her to a party where she became so intoxicated she couldn't stand and then had sex with her while a friend filmed the incident on an iPhone.

She told CNN 's 'Erin Burnett OutFront' that she and her friend had been drinking and went to his house, where they 'snuck in through his basement window. 'He gave me a big glass of a clear liquid. And that's all I remember,' the teenager said yesterday on CNN.



The athlete and his friends then allegedly dumped Daisy on her front porch, where she passed out - with no shoes or socks and no coat - in 22-degree weather. When her mother found her several hours later, Daisy's hair was frozen and she had frostbite on her hands and feet.

'There was frost on th e ground ,' Da is y's mo ther Melinda Coleman told CNN .



'It wasn't until I undressed her to put her in a warm tub that I realised that maybe she had been sexually assaulted. So I asked her if she was hurting, and she said yes, and started to cry,' she said.



The Kansas City Star reports that Mrs Coleman, a veterinarian, lost her job as a result of the police report her daughter filed. Mrs Coleman says her three sons - Daisy's brothers - were threatened at school and booed on the field - often by boys they had counted as their friends just weeks earlier.

The charred remains of the fire-damaged home of Melinda Coleman and her children in October. The cause of the fire could not be determined

Accusations: Daisy, pictured left with her brother, told police that she became so drunk she couldn't remember anything at a party thrown by several older high school boys







She said she had no choice but leave. Town officials and many residents had made it clear that she was no longer welcome in the town of 12,000, she said.

'Basically I was terrified, I wanted to protect my children, I wanted to get them out of there,' she told MailOnline, agreeing that her family's names and photographs be used to highlight their case.

In April, eight months after she left town, Mrs Coleman's house in Maryville - which she was trying to sell - burned down. Fire investigators have ruled the cause 'undetermined,' but Mrs Coleman told MailOnline that she suspects the blaze could be arson - connected with town residents who were furious over her daughter's rape allegations.



'On one hand, it would almost be a comfort to think it was an electrical problem that caused the fire, but on the other other hand, there’s a part of me that really thinks that the fire could be part of all this,' Mrs Coleman said.

'They threatened me. I’d been threatened and my daughter had been threatened and I lost my job because of threats.'

Daisy, seen here with her three brothers, was threatened by residents of Maryville after the charges against a popular football player went public. Her brothers were threatened and harassed, as well

Melinda Coleman, Daisy's mother, said she feared for her family's safety after she and her children received threats

Mrs Coleman says she moved her family to Maryville after her husband, a doctor, died in a car crash in 2006. She was hoping for a fresh start for herself and for her children.



Sheriff's deputies arrested two teens within hours and charged them with felonies. A few weeks later, the prosecutor, Robert Rice, dropped the rape charges - citing insufficient evidence.

Mrs Coleman told MailOnline the torrents of hatred came only days after the case went public.



The backlash on social media was vitriolic. Classmates said the Daisy had been 'asking for it' at the party.



A girl showed up to one of the teen girl's dance recitals with a shirt alluding to the alleged rape. When the charges against her alleged rapist were dismissed, one local student wrote to the teen on Twitter, saying, 'F*** yea. That’s what you get for bein a skank : )'.

One of Daisy's brothers was booed at his final wrestling match of the year. Mrs Coleman says a friend warned her that students were planning to beat up her sons in the parking lot of the high school over the incident.



Mrs Coleman lost her job at the local veterinary clinic. She says her boss admitted that she was fired because the case had become too contentious.

Veterinarian Sally Hayse told the Star: 'This is a small community, and it definitely was stressful for us here, without a doubt.

The entrance of Maryville High School - High school freshman Daisy Coleman was subjected to constant bullying from classmates - and even parents - in Maryville, Missouri, after she reported she had been raped in January 2012

Life at Maryville High School became difficult for the four Coleman children after numerous former friends lashed out over the sex assault report

Maryville is a tight-knit town of 12,000 in rural northern Missouri

But, she said, 'If you were to ask me point-blank (why Mrs Coleman was fired), I would say it’s because our style of medicine didn’t jive.'

Mrs Coleman said her daughter suffered heavily - both from the alleged assault and from the online abuse. She tried to kill herself twice, including once when her brother found her in the bathroom and took her to the hospital.



'She had a really hard time. She went through a period, a really dark time. She did the self-mutilation and the anger,' Mrs Coleman told MailOnline.



'So much of being told it was her fault ... it really does seem like it’s your fault when people keep saying it over and over again.'