Musician arrested after concert in Kentucky on child sex crime charges
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Richards was arrested shortly after he left the stage before reaching the tour bus.
- Richards faces charges of two counts of sodomy and incest from alleged abuse.
- A woman contacted police on Nov. 24, 2025, reporting abuse from Dec. 2020 and Dec. 2022.
A man wanted for alleged child sex crimes in Kentucky was arrested just after he finished performing at a concert on Saturday, according to the Owensboro Police Department.
The arrest took place at the BBQ and Barrels event, a two-day festival celebrating barbecue and bourbon, in Owensboro. Police said they were contacted by the Winchester Police Department a few days before the festival because the department had obtained an arrest warrant for Carsen Richards, 22, who was scheduled to play a concert at the event Saturday.
The Messenger-Inquirer reported that Richards was the touring bassist and music director for Chase Matthew, the headliner for the festival. Police said they devised a plan to take Richards into custody without a violent encounter in a crowded environment.
Richards had access to multiple guns and was known to be frequently armed, according to police.
The night of the concert, police visually verified Richards on stage and determined he was the suspect wanted on the arrest warrant. Police said they arrested him shortly after he left the stage, before he could get back to a tour bus.
Richards was unarmed during his arrest. Police said Owensboro’s special events staff and BBQ and Barrel organizers were not notified of the plan to arrest Richards.
“As with any law enforcement operation, confidentiality is of the utmost importance,” Owensboro police said.
Matthew also said he didn’t know about the plans for Richards’ arrest or anything about his past. He said the situation is one of the most shocking and heartbreaking things he’s experienced.
Richards has been kicked out of Matthew’s band and no longer has any connection to his team.
“When I first heard the allegations, I was sick to my stomach,” Matthew said. “I would never associate myself with a person I think could even be remotely capable of something like this, much less hire them to be on my team.”
Richards is charged with two counts of second-degree sodomy and incest. He was booked into the Daviess County Detention Center, where he remains lodged.
Court documents say a woman contacted Winchester police Nov. 24, 2025, and reported that her child had been abused by Richards. The abuse happened at the victim’s home in December 2020 and December 2022, when the child was 12 and 14 years old.
The woman confronted Richards in February, in which he said, “there is nothing more I have regretted in my life” and “I made an awful mistake,” according to court documents.
Richards is being held on a $75,000 bond, according to court records. There are no scheduled hearings in his court case yet.
