Matt Bevin was the governor of Kentucky. After he lost to Andy Beshear in 2018, he pardoned several people as he was leaving office. There were 428 pardons, many of relatives of his donors. He explained the pardons were motivated by his strong belief in second chances. While the governor had the absolute right to pardon anyone he pleased, some of his pardons were particularly controversial, particularly his pardon of a child molester.
Bevin explained that he didn’t believe that the 9-year-old girl was molested because her hymen was intact. There is no reason to believe this. Before pardoning this rapist, he could have talked to medical or forensic experts who would have told him that it proved nothing, that it was possible there was no physical evidence. In fact, only 2.1% of victims had damage to their hymen.
The man he pardoned raped this child for two years. He was sentenced to 23 years, but was pardoned after 19 months and will not have to register as a sex offender. Bevin did not review the evidence provided by police and the prosecution.
He also pardoned the man who was convicted of sexually assaulting a fifteen-year-old boy with a foreign object and posting a video of the rape on the internet.
Republicans and Democrats have called for investigation into the pardons, including the pardon of a man convicted of homicide after his family paid off Bevin’s 2015 campaign debt with a fundraiser.
- Washington Post: Kentucky’s ex-governor pardoned a child rapist because the 9-year-old victim’s hymen was intact
- USA Today: Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin defends controversial pardons, blames outrage on ‘political opportunism’
- Courier-Journal: By pardoning rapists and killers, former governor Matt Bevin showed us who he really is
The Courier-Journal
Louisville, Kentucky · Monday, December 16, 2019