Judge’s murder exposes secret sex ring in small Kentucky town — Sheriff accused of killing Judge
Hey guys, thanks so much for checking out my podcast. Please click to subscribe. I’m in Lecher County, Kentucky right now. This is where the sheriff shot and killed the judge right in the judge’s chambers. I’m investigating what happened and there is a lot more to the story. Allegations of a secret sex ring.
I’m looking into all of it for this edition of Brian Investigates. Hey guys, so I’ve got two really, really interesting interviews uh coming up from Kentucky. First of all, a woman who I spoke to who said uh that she had sex with the judge countless times, the judge who was murdered, she said she had sex with him countless times to get out of crimes.
And she says that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the corruption. Also, a jailer, a different woman who worked in the jail as a guard who says that there were sex parties going on in and around the jail. And she goes into detail. So, you’re going to hear from both of those women in a second.
First, let me give you guys some of the backstory here, catch you up if you haven’t been following this case. Former Lecher County Sheriff Shawn Mickey Stein has been jailed uh since the killing last September of the judge. Uh it was caught on surveillance camera. This is in Whitesburg, Kentucky. That’s where I was. And again, just think about this.
This is a sheriff, the county sheriff killing the judge. So, this is extremely unusual. And from the moment this happened, I knew there had to be more to the story here. Steines is accused of fatally shooting uh Lecher County District Judge Kevin Mullins in the judge’s chamber. And Mullins died at the scene.
Uh and Stein, again, who was the sheriff at the time, surrendered without incident. The surveillance video shows a man who looks just like Stein’s uh pulling out a gun, shooting Mullins as he sat at his desk, and the man walked around the desk, then pointed at the the gun at the judge uh and then fired again.
Authorities haven’t yet released a motive uh for the shooting. But this is where things get really interesting here when you start to peel back the layers. The judge, according to lawsuits that we’ve looked into and people that we’ve talked to, could have been involved in a sex for favors plot. The judge was connected to a sex for favor scheme uh when women on house arrest exchange sexual acts for special treatment.
And this is according to a lawsuit. Now, since the murder of Judge Mullins, everyone has speculated as to Sheriff Stein’s motive for killing Mullins. The reason behind the shooting, according to some locals, could be that Judge Mullins again was involved in this sex for favor scandal, demanded that Stein keep his mouth shut about it when a lawsuit was filed by one of the victims.
And at this point, at least two women that we know of have filed lawsuits who say that they were forced to have sex or they were told that they would have to go back to jail. And so that takes us back to where we are now. These women coming forward, including a woman who I interviewed named Tia Adams, uh, who sat down with me.
I went to her home in Kentucky and she said that um she had sex with the judge uh to get out of trouble. She acknowledges that the corruption is widespread. She she also acknowledges that she’s been in and in and out of trouble for addiction um and you know has been in and out of jail but said that actually made her the perfect victim and says she is telling the truth about what happened. Listen to this.
>> So what was your first interaction with the judge? Um, I knew him before because my sister worked for the Commonwealth attorney for a really long time. Like I grew up in this office and stuff. So whenever they he got elected to be commonwealth attorney and um we moved over into city hall and then Kevin was the assistant commonwealth attorney and his office was like across the road from it and I was kind of like informal interning there like learning office management and stuff and um I went over to his office
to take a to learn how to take a deposition and that was the first interaction that I had with him as far as the sex and stuff goes. >> What happened? Um, I gave him oral with my shirt pulled down and whenever we were done, he threw money in my face, told me to clean myself up and reminded me that I knew better than to tell my sister.
>> And what was his job at that time? >> Assistant Commonwealth attorney. And we would do sex parties and perform shows and have sex with them for money, things like that. >> Where were the parties? >> Various places. There are um different cabins. There’s an apartment down like toward Thornton that they would use that’s got like mirrored ceilings and a bedet and a sex swing and all the things.
>> Yeah. >> Did you feel like you could say no? >> No. No. No. And he they would make sure to make you feel as small and degraded and belittled as possible to take your power away. You know >> what sort of things would they do? But also like I have to say like we were having fun too, you know, like we were doing drugs, we was doing coke, doing a lot of cocaine, partying, you know, like it wasn’t like they were just like they weren’t raping like physically like you know what people think about when they hear the word rape. It was it was
consensual, but it was the thing that we were so young and then they used it against us and to destroy our lives later. >> How so? >> With the legal system. with the legal system and CPS systematically removing your whole life piece by piece. >> Did they ever tell you that you couldn’t say anything? >> Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, that was just a given, you know, and like who who would believe it anyway because the whole town’s doing it, you know? Nobody cares. They’re all swingers. It’s all a big party to them. It was just like so normal. Did you ever have sex with him after he became judge? >> Yeah. Yeah. >> When he was the judge? >> Yes. >> I’ve had sex with him in the chambers.
I’ve had sex with him upstairs. >> You had sex in the chambers? >> Yes. >> How did that >> It was not the room that’s on film that’s on that where that camera is where the murder and stuff happened. That’s not the room that was always the chambers. I don’t know. Like I I think it might be behind that where it was, but there was like a different desk and everything in there.
That’s not the same room. >> And how did that happen? What? >> The sex in the chambers and >> we would just like sometimes we would just go over there and hang out and he’d be like just hang out. Let me go do sit on the bench for a while. I’ll be in in a minute. You know, and everybody would come back there and smoke and stuff after.
The girls who um they would bring them up from the jail for the house arrest people and stuff. They would have sex all over the place with them too. >> From the jail. >> Yeah. >> Were you ever there when that happened? >> Yeah. >> You saw it? >> Yeah. Yeah. I knew the girls personally. Yeah. They were my friends and family.
They were the people that we lived with on the streets. >> So they would >> the other ones that they’ve done the same thing to and taken their kids and slammed them and put them with all these big crazy charges. >> So I mean you’re saying it like it’s so normal, but I just want to make sure. So So the judge would have sex with inmates from the jail.
>> Yes. >> And you saw it? >> Yes. I was part of it. I was one of them >> and not just from being in jail like coming in off the street and seeing them. Yeah. >> How did they keep it a secret? It wasn’t a secret. Wasn’t a secret. >> Why did you feel like you had to have sex with a judge? >> Cuz he’s the one with the power.
He holds my entire life in his hands. He’s the one that makes the decisions over whether I get to keep my children or not. He’s the one that makes the decisions on whether I go to jail or whether I get a like they they would drug test me all the time and I would pass it and social services would come in and say like um no she failed it and I would have to make them lab it every time because I wasn’t failing it.
That was the one good thing that Kevin did to me did for me when my twins we fought for them for months. Finally got them back in the home. Social services was so harassing and so bad that he called her out in court. He said this that’s enough. said you have taken this too far and I’m reporting you to Frankfurt and he called the onbudsman like contacted me and to supposedly open an investigation against the child services here and I never heard nothing about it.
>> Did the judge ever say you have to do this or if you do this >> you come you come see me three times and we’ll take care of this if it’s a ticket or something you know or you get some minor charge some petty charge come visit me a few times we’ll we’ll take care of it. You would say that? >> Mhm. >> Absolutely. Yeah.
>> And how many women do you think were also doing this? >> Total over the years, hundreds. Yeah. And not just for the women who had charges. Like if your man or somebody your child is in there, then you could go see him for that, too. >> And everybody knew this was going on. >> Yes. Yes.
So, what did you think when the sheriff killed the judge? >> When you found out, >> my heart just like exploded in relief. Um, I thought finally, finally, somebody is going to see this cuz now they can’t look away. They have to look. They have to see what’s happening here. And then it’s been all this time and still not seeing anything happening.
You know, nobody’s saying anything. The people are people have been making videos and coming out with their story for a long time, but they’re being retaliated against to the point that they’re leaving this. They’ve had to pack up and leave homes that they own here and leave the state and go rent somewhere else because they’ve ran them out of town.
>> Do you feel nervous talking about this? Have you been retaliated against? >> I’m a little bit nervous, but I also know that God’s got this, you know, and that our kids I don’t want our kids to have to grow up in this town like it has been for us. Because once they get their hooks in you, they never let you go.
You don’t get to live. You don’t get to choose your life. You don’t choose your own path. They do that for you. >> Has anyone tried to intimidate you into not talking? >> Um like comments on Facebook and um yes, a lot of victim blaming, shaming, stuff like that, petty stuff. Um but then also we had the message from the jailer’s sister that said that they started it, she’s going to finish it.
And um she’s on Facebook like slandering Liz saying she went through like hours of footage to catch a freeze frame of her eye like glitching like in the middle of a blink or something and put it on there on Facebook. Look, she’s high. We need to call CPS to come take her kids. And that’s how it happens.
They’ll call CPS on you and then you they will take your children unfounded for nothing, for no reason. Or like when my case, they court ordered me to take suboxin and then showed up at the hospital when I gave birth to take my child because she had suboxin in her system. She had subutex in her system.
They said my prescription wasn’t valid. It was uh my clinic had closed like a couple weeks before I went into labor, but I still had a whole month’s prescription for that month with pills left over that I hadn’t even taken yet. And that was their grounds for taking her. >> How many times would you say you had sex with the judge in the courthouse? >> Countless.
>> Countless. >> Or sexual relations of some sort. Yeah. Yeah. >> I mean, if you had to put a number on it. >> I don’t know. Have you seen my record? >> It’s a long one. >> And he basically >> he’s been part of every charge I’ve ever had. >> And when you would get a charge, what would he say? >> He laugh at me, tell me, “Come see him.
We’ll get it figured out or whatever.” But he never did. He ended up just like slamming me. They slammed me with all them other crazy charges there at the end. Like once they were done with me, I think that they got scared. And something about it is they don’t like for us to get sober. When we get sober, we start to heal and we start to speak on who hurt us and they don’t like that.
So they’ll send people out to relapse you and pull you back into their nonsense. >> Do you know why the sheriff killed the judge? >> I don’t, but I have my own suspicions and beliefs. >> What do you think? >> I think that he seen that nothing was ever going to stop. Nothing was ever going to change. Unless something big happened.
I don’t know what it was that triggered him to actually do that. Like I I don’t know. I couldn’t say. But knowing everything and then if you notice they put that charge on Ben Fields, right? Like he’s the only one or something. And um Mickey ended up getting named in a lawsuit for not doing anything about it or not properly training them.
So I wonder like if he was like like this is so out so far out of my hands. What am I supposed to do? It’s like all these people here that have evidence like physical evidence of all these horrible things that they’ve done to them are just hiding it because there’s nobody to give it to. like what you know >> what um what do you think of I mean what do you make of the sheriff what is his sort of reputation >> he’s got a good reputation he was well respected um he was always good to me fair firm you know he take you to jail and stuff
but he was unlike a groper and raper and stuff like the other ones and he was always good to me >> did did he know about everything going on >> yeah I think it bothered him like I really do cuz I asked for house arrest. I kept asking over and over. I kept saying, “Mickey, please let me go on house arrest.
Like, this is crazy and you know these charges on me are crazy.” So, every time I’d get him in the elevator, take him into court, I’d beg him. He’d say, “Well, we’ll see. We’ll see.” And then he never would put me on the list. And it makes me wonder why. Now, >> did anything ever happen to you in the jail? >> Yeah. I’ll see. >> I mean, because you talk about having sex with the judge, but that was mostly when you were out, right? Trying to avoid >> Yeah.
Or >> But what about when you were in jail? >> Yeah. um the jail workers and stuff, a lot of them they would come up to the doors, stuff they want to see your titties, they want you to come up so they can put their hands in the bean hole and touch you, things like that. There was like this old stairwell in the middle of the jail across from the med mid room.
Like they would take girls in there and stuff sometimes. >> How do all these officials get away with this? >> They run it all. They run it all. Their art their rehab programs and stuff, they’re all in it together. They all got their hands in it. The drug court, they just keep extending your sentence. Extending your sentence. How is that? Do you know what happened with my case? We had the fight.
They charged us with unlawful imprisonment in a holding cell beside the book and death desk desk. They charged us with unlawful imprisonment, which is kidnapping. That’s the charge that stuck. And they told me I had seven and a half years total. I get to prison and get my time sheet. I had 12 and a half years. So, I went and seen legal aid.
They said once the fin final judgment is filed, there’s nothing else that you can do. It’s final. So, I did my time. I made pro upon completion. I did all their programs and stuff that I was eligible to do. And when I got out, they tried to make me to go to drug court. They tried to add drug court onto my sentence. And I was I threw a fit.
I said, “No, this is not right. And this was not part of the plea deal. And y’all already screwed me and gave me five extra years anyway. We’re not doing this.” My parole officer went and went went back in his office and he come back out and said, “Well, they agreed that if you would do afterare for six months that you don’t have to go to drug court.” So, I did their afterare.
I did their MRT classes, anger management, parenting, you name it, I did it. I served out. I went to go get my gold seal. I was so excited and so proud that I accomplished it and that I was done. I finished it. You know, like I’ve worked so hard my whole life just to get out from under this place. Finish it.
I go in to get my gold seal, my certificate. And um he says there the state says they’re not going to release you because of your child support until it’s paid in full. That just destroyed me. That crushed me. And I still didn’t know like what Cole had said for a while after that. Like that’s a more recent development when I got on there and scene that I’m on parole till 2099.
And I’ve been trying to find somebody from the outside for a while to look at this case like cuz nothing about it is right. So, for people who aren’t for people who aren’t from here, >> I mean, there’s obviously a lot of people on drugs or have been on drugs. >> Yes. >> Um, does that just make them vulnerable to this whole system? >> It does. And they use it.
They start giving you drugs as a minor. >> Like, so you’re already addicted. >> You’re already addicted. So, they use that to keep control over you. >> Do you think it’s diabolical? Do you think they think, “Oh, no one will listen to these people because they have records. They have been on drugs >> and that’s why they want to keep us messed up and, you know, out of it so nobody we don’t have any credibility.
>> Yeah. >> I also spoke with a woman uh who says that she worked in the jail. So, she had a very interesting perspective. This is an interview that aired first on NewsNation. Look at this. >> Um, so you worked in the jail? >> Yes, sir. >> Yeah. How long did you work there? >> Um, about three and a half months.
>> Okay. And what was your job? uh Deputy Jelly and >> I was one of the guards. >> One of the guards. So in with all the >> taking care of the inmates and stuff like that that uh helping give out trays, meds, um watches. There’s a lot of times I was in the booth um just different things. >> When did you realize um that something strange was going on at the jail? >> When Benfields came in and became an automatic trustee.
That was what had made my eyes go, “Oh, wow. Okay, so our systems aren’t how they’re supposed to be.” not even in our guidelines. I was it it confused me cuz you know most times in jail when somebody comes into jail you’re there for a while and then there’s the process of if you want to become a trustee which is some one of the inmates where they get to do special jobs like uh helping prepare the food or going out on work release uh you have to apply for that.
You have to ask for it. You have to show that you have the initiative to want to do it. and Benfields from first day stepping into our jail was a automatic trustee. Um, special treatment. Um, it was awful. We have two, uh, solitaries that is beside the ice box where they keep all these supplies, uh, feminine products, pops, stuff like that, which is supposed to be a oneman cell.
Um, at some points there’s two or three people in there, but there was two men that was in that cell that had gotten moved. so that way Ben Fields could be moved into that cell. He got his a brand new bed. He got a brand new flat screen TV auto automatic trustee. Uh he had his own pack of cigarettes in the break room. Marbor Red Shorts.
Um it it just wasn’t fair. You know what I mean? Um it just showed the system wasn’t how it should be. >> Did you ever see anyone having sex? >> I never seen anybody having sex, but I had heard stories. Um, one of the female guards specifically was telling me that one of the places she takes male inmates was the storage room, which used to be a stairwell in front of the medication room. It’s literally directly across.
Uh, you can’t get in there without a key, and that’s where they take them. Um, a lot of times they get took up into the courthouse, especially after hours late at night, nobody’s at work, nobody’s up there, so it’s all empty. It’s all empty space. How common was that? >> More common than you would want to believe in the court system.
Um, even down to some of my my daily supervisors, there would be girls sign themselves out and take them on home. It was it it was sick. Um, >> the supervisors would take the inmates home for the night. >> Yes. When there’s policy once a inmate leaves their that jail space, you’re not supposed to be in contact with them for six months.
So, it was it’s one of those things. Oh, you’re taking them. And then the girls go back and tell them the stories. Oh, of I slept with this with this person when he took me home. You know, it it’s sick. >> What did you think when you were working there? >> That it was a brothel. It is all just a It’s all a brothel between all the employees sleeping with each other and sleeping with the inmates that come in.
And a lot of them, they are repeat offenders. A lot of them are permanent stairs. Um, it’s nasty. It’s sickening. Uh, I’ve even had one of my personal supervisors go way over the limits of even trying to get my family to force me to be in a relationship with them while I was previously in a rel like already in a relationship.
And it’s like, sir, like this is supposed to be a work you’re you’re a work friend. You know what I mean? It it’s just it’s not a good environment. What would the inmates get in return for having sex with, you know, the leadership? >> For inmates, the smallest things. Unless you’re going unless you’re going with one of the overheads.
If they’re sleeping with the guard, it’s mostly for things like cigarettes, time out of the cell, um, pops, commissary, things like that. >> Wow. What did you think when the sheriff shot the judge? >> A lot of the corruption was going to come out. I knew that this was going to be that was going to be the beginning to set everything aside to make people come in and people’s voices finally be heard because even I believe that the sheriff he either knew something or something was going on that he knew about that we all might not know about he was doing
something to protect us. So the sheriff was your boss was the or is the jail separate? The jail is separate from the police station. Okay. Yeah. Or the sheriff’s office. Okay. Did you know what was going on with the judge? Yes. Uh, now that’s a that’s a reverse question of of which part of what was going on.
Did you know you know inmates were having sex with the judge? >> Yes. Uh, pretty much that’s kind of the thing that everybody in the county knows, but it was confirmed to me after working in the jail, especially after being invited to a party myself. >> What What happened? >> I said no thank you.
I declined and kind of just went back on to what I was doing. It was just one of those things of was I just asked that like did that just really >> to a sex party? >> Yes. >> Who asked you? >> Um it was Mr. Mullins himself. >> What did he say? >> He uh he had talked about they like do little gettogethers and everything. He didn’t explain it to me as in a party.
It was a uh get together of some of the higherups. um I’m not going to say names for for other re purposes um but for some of the other higherups and it was just a get together them doing like a little like meeting like a lunch a late not a lunch dinner um sorry I keep getting mixed up but uh he didn’t really get too far into it but you know if you’re being asked to go to a late night get together with the higherups that it’s not nothing to do with eating >> um Right.
>> At least not food. >> So, you knew what was going on. >> Yes. Um other co-workers and they even or my ex co-workers uh they’ve come out and even asked me now not to mention it. They’ve even them participating in the parties themselves. I had had another one ask me to go to another one of Monza’s gettogethers and I was I declined it again because it’s one of those things I was raised better than that.
You know what I mean? You’re our southern goals, especially being raised in southeastern Kentucky, we know better than that. Our mas raised us better than that. Our grandmas raised us better than that. Our great grandmothers raised us better than that. But a lot of the cases for a lot of the girls, especially like our girls like Ty or Lexi Bentley or a lot of the other ones, they are forced into into doing stuff like this like that.
for either help with cases or it’s just a lot. It’s a lot to deal with. And there’s other men and stuff too around here that host and do things and film, do their own make their own movies and stuff too. That’s why I say a lot of them the higherups is what I call them. Um, especially from where I’m in a court case right now.
I don’t want like saying a lot of names because you never know what they could do to us, especially for retaliation. But if you know, you know, in the county, >> um, everybody knows. Um, they might not speak on it. they might not want to be involved in it because of the fear of retaliation because there’s so many people that has come out and spoke out about what Judge Mullins has done or other crimes that have been participated in just regards of Mullins and Mickey Stein and all this and they go to speak out and they either end up overdosed
when they’re clean or you don’t hear from them again and I get and I get that and for all the people that have spoke up I’m I’m unbelievably unbelievably proud of them. Especially our girls like Tai. Like I’m so proud of y’all. Especially speaking out. Things like this that happen in small communities and small towns.
Even if we’re afraid to speak up on it, we need to because is this what we want for our next generation? Is that what we want for our kids, what we’re going through, um what our p our past people have gone through, do we want that for them? And no, I don’t want that for my daughter. I don’t want that for my son. I want better for them.
I want an actual community that’s not based on if you got money and know people and if you’re willing to get on your knees or on your back. It It’s sickening. And I want better for them. I want better for not just my babies, for Lex’s babies, for Tai’s babies, for for all of them. My grand my my grandchildren one day. I want better for them all.
So, the latest on this case uh is there was just a hearing um for the sheriff. He’s been in jail ever since the um the murder the murder of the judge. Uh his attorney is now asking for a $50,000 cash bond, saying that he should be let out, saying that he’s not a flight risk. Uh there’s been no decision right now on that. He remains behind bars right now.
Um but it seems the information um that we’re beginning to get on this is is just unraveling again of what was going on behind the scenes in this county, what may have led up to this very unusual shooting uh where a sheriff shot a judge. So, I’m going to stay on it. I’m still continuing to talk to people. There are a lot of people that I’ve talked to there who are nervous to go on camera to tell their stories, but are sort of talking to us behind the scenes.
Uh, so I’ll keep you guys uh posted. All right, see you later.
