FRANKFORT, Ky. (September 29, 2022) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced today that action by his Special Prosecutions Unit resulted in the indictment of former Letcher County Deputy Sheriff Ben Fields, 36, of Whitesburg, for rape, sodomy, tampering with a prison monitoring device, and perjury.
On September 29, 2022, a Letcher County Grand Jury indicted Fields on two counts of Rape Third Degree (Class D Felony), two counts of Sodomy Third Degree (Class D Felony), three counts of Tampering with a Prisoner Monitoring Device (Class D Felony), and one count of Perjury Second Degree (Class A Misdemeanor).
From July 2021 through January 2022, Fields, while Deputy Sheriff and/or an employee under contract to monitor inmates released from the Letcher County Jail on home incarceration, tampered with a prisoner’s home monitoring device and raped an individual he knew was in custody and/or under house arrest. Fields is also charged with committing perjury by giving a false statement in a criminal complaint.
Detective Matthew Easter investigated the case on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office. Assistant Attorneys General Barbara Whaley and Tim Cocanougher presented the case before the Letcher County Grand Jury on behalf of the Commonwealth.
The charges in an indictment and herein are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.