Ky. deputy sheriff required oral sex from woman before he’d help her get her dogs back
A former Boyd County sheriff’s deputy has pleaded guilty to federal charges that he violated a woman’s civil rights by forcing unwanted sexual contact and telling her to destroy evidence of his wrongdoing.
According to a federal indictment, Patrick Allen Adkins required a woman to perform oral sex on him in July 2013 in exchange for his help recovering her dogs. He then told her to consume evidence “in order to prevent information about his DNA from being available in a criminal investigation of official misconduct,” the indictment states.
Adkins was indicted in July 2018, but the indictment had been sealed.
Adkins pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Ashland Monday.
According to the plea agreement, the victim contacted the Boyd County Sheriff’s Department on July 15, 2013, to report that while she had been in jail for several days, her daughter had taken her dogs and was refusing to return them.
Adkins told the woman she needed paperwork showing that the dogs belonged to her and advised her to get written statements from friends and neighbors, which the woman did, according to the plea agreement.
She called law enforcement again, and a different deputy responded and told the woman she needed to take her complaint to small claims court, the plea agreement states.
The next day, after the woman saw a Facebook post indicating that her daughter might be planning to sell some of the dogs, she contacted the sheriff’s office again, according to the court document.
Adkins came back to the woman’s home in uniform, and after the woman cried and pleaded for help getting the dogs back, Adkins shut the door behind him and unzipped his pants, according to the plea agreement.
After the encounter, Adkins told the woman she’d have one of her dogs back that evening, the plea agreement states.
The woman took some actions to try to preserve evidence of what had happened and told an attorney about the incident on July 18, 2013, according to court records. The attorney notified Kentucky State Police. While Adkins initially denied that the incident happened, he later said that it was the victim’s idea and that he agreed to it, according to the plea agreement.
Adkins is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 14. He could receive up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to a news release.
“The conduct in this case was particularly despicable,” U.S. Attorney Robert M. Duncan, Jr., said in the release. “The victim asked for the assistance of law enforcement; instead, she became the victim of abuse and her civil rights were violated. The defendant callously disregarded his oath to uphold the law and protect the public. Fortunately, his actions are not representative of the overwhelming majority of law enforcement officers — individuals who serve with integrity, respect for the law, and compassion for victims. It is our hope that the defendant’s guilty plea and conviction can, in some way, mitigate the damage he has done.”
Kentucky State Police and the FBI investigated the case.
This story was originally published May 12, 2020 at 9:16 PM.
