Kentucky deputy doing contract work coerced woman to have sex in judge’s office, lawsuit says
A Kentucky sheriff’s deputy coerced a woman to have sex with him in a judge’s office by letting her avoid paying home-incarceration fees, the woman has charged in a lawsuit.
Attorneys representing Sabrina Adkins, of Pike County, filed the lawsuit in federal court Monday.
The complaint alleges that the unwanted sexual conduct by Deputy Ben Fields violated Adkins’ constitutional rights. It also alleges that Sheriff Mickey Stines did not properly supervise Fields.
Efforts to reach Fields Tuesday were not successful.
Stines told the Herald-Leader that Fields had a contract job handling home-incarceration monitoring that was not related to his job at the sheriff’s office, where he was a court-security officer. Stines said he did not supervise Fields in the home-incarceration work.
Fields was suspended from the sheriff’s office without pay on Monday, the same day the lawsuit was filed, Stines said. He referred the matter to Kentucky State Police for any potential criminal investigation.
“Anyone that knows me knows that I do not condone these types of actions by anyone, especially an employee,” Stines said.
Arrest
Adkins has an arrest record on drug and other charges in Pike and Letcher counties, including one last year in which a police officer said he found her passed out behind the wheel of her car in a parking lot in Whitesburg.
She was charged with possession of methamphetamine and a drug called gabapentin; possession of drug syringes and a glass device used to smoke meth; and public intoxication, according to court records.
She was in jail in Letcher County from early April 2021 to June 2, when she was placed on home incarceration with an electronic monitoring device on her ankle, according to the lawsuit.
She was required to pay a monitoring fee for the device. Fields was assigned to monitor her, according to the lawsuit.
Fields went to see Adkins the night she was released to take her some cigarettes and console her, the lawsuit said.
Adkins told Fields she didn’t have money to pay the monitoring fee but was terrified of going back to the Letcher County Jail.
Fields then made flirtatious comments about Adkins’ looks and body and told her he was sure they could “work something out,” according to the lawsuit.
Adkins understood he meant she could get favorable treatment in return for sexual favors.
Meetings at the courthouse
The two began communicating by text, and in late June Fields asked Adkins to meet him at the county courthouse in the evening and took her to the office of District Judge Kevin Mullins, telling her he wanted to meet there because there were no cameras, the lawsuit said.
Fields removed the monitoring device from Adkins’ ankle and told her she didn’t have to pay the fee anymore, but could remain out of jail on home incarceration, according to the complaint.
Between late June and December, Fields met Adkins at the courthouse about six times when it was closed. Over that time, his behavior progressed from making flirtatious comments to kissing her forcibly, then to oral sex and intercourse in the judge’s chambers, the lawsuit charged.
Adkins was coerced to go along because of Fields’ power over her and because she couldn’t afford the monitoring fee but didn’t want to go back to jail, according to the lawsuit.
The meetings typically occurred before Adkins had a court hearing. Fields would put the ankle bracelet back on her and make it appear she was in compliance with the home-incarceration rules, the lawsuit said.
In December, some people at the courthouse received notice of Fields’ inappropriate conduct, including text messages.
Fields found out and stopped communicating with Adkins, and then in January “maliciously” filed a complaint saying she was not complying with home incarceration in an effort to save his job, the lawsuit said.
Adkins was arrested on a bail-jumping charge in January. She is “terrified” of going back to the jail, where Fields’ wife works, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that Fields abused other women as well.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of money to compensate Adkins and punish Fields.
Lexington attorneys Bethany N. Baxter and Joe F. Childers and Prestonsburg attorney Ned Pillersdorf filed the complaint for Adkins.
