Civil suit exposes sexual exploitation in Letcher County courts

WHITESBURG, Ky. (FOX 56) — It’s been one year since former Letcher County Sheriff Shawn “Mickey” Stines was accused of shooting and killing District Judge Kevin Mullins inside his chambers. 

Just three days before the then-sheriff Stines allegedly murdered Mullins, he gave a deposition in a civil suit. 

Ned Pillersdorf, a criminal defense lawyer, represents Sabrina Adkins, who filed a 2022 federal civil rights lawsuit against Letcher County deputy Ben Fields and others in the sheriff’s office.

“The world has changed. I never had hardly any female clients, and I’d say most of my caseload is women and drug charges. That’s what’s going on in Appalachian courtrooms today,” Pillersdorf said.

Adkins’ testimony led to a prison sentence for Fields. He ran the county’s home detention program.

Adkins testified that the system puts women at risk of sexual exploitation. 

“The reality is, the courts are flooded with women on drug charges, and often the only way to get them out of jail is an ankle bracelet,” explained Pillersdorf. “And these women are so easily subjected to sexual extortion.”

Adkins alleged she couldn’t afford the $85 weekly fee for her ankle bracelet and claimed Fields provided favorable treatments for sex. 

The lawsuit alleges this happened inside Mullins’ chambers for six months. It also accuses Stines of “deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise.”

“The reality is, if you’re a woman on an ankle bracelet with a drug charge, you know a simple phone call to the judge that you violated some term, you’re back in jail, and these women know they won’t be believed,” Pillersdorf said. 

Two days after the suit was filed, Stines fired Fields, and Fields later pleaded guilty to several sexual felonies. 

Pillersdorf said, unfortunately, he doesn’t believe what happened in Letcher County is an isolated incident. 

“What I’m hoping to get out of this is just to protect my female clients and other female criminal defendants,” added Pillersdorf. “A lot of them don’t have $400 a month, and sometimes the alternative is they’re coerced into sexual acts, which is, by definition, rape.”

Fields pleaded guilty to third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, two counts of tampering with a prisoner monitoring device, and second-degree perjury. 

Pillersdorf is also representing another woman alongside Adkins. However, the three charges related to the other woman were dismissed because she’s dead, but the civil case is continuing with her estate as plaintiff.