Charge: Kentucky policeman used unreasonable force, had victim charged to cover it up
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The assistant police chief in an Eastern Kentucky town used unreasonable force against a person and then tried to cover the crime by having another officer charge the victim with an offense, a federal grand jury has charged.
The grand jury indicted Kenny Ray Raleigh, assistant police chief in Cumberland, on one charge of violating a person’s civil right to be free from unreasonable force.
Raleigh assaulted a person identified only as S.C.S., hitting him several times on the head and injuring him, the indictment charged. The alleged assault happened March 31, 2019, in Harlan County.
The grand jury also charged Raleigh with obstructing justice. Raleigh directed a person identified as J.F. to charge S.C.S. with resisting arrest, the indictment said.
The alleged goal was to hinder or prevent federal authorities from getting information about the unjustified use of force against S.C.S., the indictment charged.
The indictment provided no further information.
The most serious charge in the indictment, the obstruction count, is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
Raleigh had his initial court appearance Friday afternoon in federal court in London and pleaded not guilty.
“We intend to fight vigorously” against the charges, said Raleigh’s attorney, David S. Hoskins.
At the prosecutor’s request, U.S. Magistrate Judge Hanly A. Ingram ordered Raleigh jailed pending a hearing on June 29 on whether he should be kept in jail until his trial, currently scheduled in August.
