Barren County Sheriff Chris Eaton And Three Of His Deputies Aaron Adam Bennett, Danny "Bobby" McCown And Adam Gene Minor, And Edmonson County Drug Task Force Detective Eric Duane Guffey, Indicted By Federal Grand Jury.

Barren County sheriff, deputies face federal charges
By Deborah Highland

A federal grand jury in Bowling Green today indicted Barren County Sheriff Chris Eaton on two counts of deprivation of rights, one count of witness tampering, one count of falsification of a document and one count of giving a false statement to federal investigators.

Also listed on the indictment as co-defendants in the case are Barren County sheriff's deputies Aaron Adam Bennett, Danny "Bobby" McCown and Joseph Adam Gene Minor, as well as Barren-Edmonson County Drug Task Force Detective Eric Duane Guffey.

The men are accused of assaulting and of aiding and abetting one another in assaulting a person identified in the indictment as B.R.S., according to the indictment.

Bennett, McCown, Minor and Guffey were all indicted on one count each of deprivation of rights under color of law. Bennett, McCown and Minor were also indicted on one count of providing a false statement to federal investigators. Guffey was indicted on two counts of providing a false statement to federal invesitgators.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is listed on the indictment as the investigating agency.

A woman who answered the phone this afternoon at the Barren County Sheriff's Office said Eaton left early today and was not available to comment.

More from the H-L below:

Ky. sheriff, 4 others facing federal charges

By BRETT BARROUQUERE and DYLAN LOVAN — Associated Press

Posted: 4:45pm on Feb 15, 2012; Modified: 5:56pm on Feb 15, 2012

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A southern Kentucky sheriff and four other law enforcement officers were charged Wednesday with federal civil rights violations accusing them of beating a suspect and then covering it up in 2010.

Barren County Sheriff Christopher Brian Eaton, three deputies and a member of a regional drug task force are charged with assaulting a person identified only as B.R.S on Feb. 24, 2010, then taking part in a cover up of the attack.

Charged along with Eaton were deputies Aaron Adam Bennett, Danny Robert McCown and Eric Duane Guffey, a member of the Barren-Edmonson County Drug Task Force.

All of the men face a charge of deprivation of rights. Eaton also faces a second count of deprivation of civil rights, one count of witness tampering, one count of falsification of a document and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.

Eaton said in an email message Wednesday that he had not seen the indictments and declined to comment further. No one answered the phone at the offices of Eaton's attorney, Guthrie True of Frankfort, on Wednesday night.

The indictment states that deputies arrested B.R.S. at Calvary Baptist Church in Glasgow, handcuffed him and proceeded to beat the man until taking him in to custody.

The indictment states that the hands of B.R.S were cuffed when the beating took place and that at least one of the men saw blood at the scene of the arrest. The indictment states that Guffey initially told the FBI he saw blood at the scene, then changed his story.

The indictment states that Eaton threatened a witness between Feb. 24, 2010 and April 24, 2010 to keep quiet about what happened to B.R.S. and told the witness to write a report stating that he saw a knife on the ground where Eaton and deputies attacked B.R.S. The grand jury also charged Eaton with lying on the official report of the incident and lying to the FBI on April 20, 2010.

Bennett, Minor, McCown and Guffey are charged with lying to the FBI during interviews about the incident.

Court records did not list attorneys for the men.

Barren County Commonwealth's Attorney Karen Davis said she was not aware of the federal investigation.

The Barren County Sheriff's website lists daily arrests. On Feb. 24, 2010, it lists three arrests: Billy R. Stinnett was charged with 21 counts of wanton endangerment, fleeing police, reckless driving and several methamphetamine-related counts. Sheriff's deputies also arrested Benjamin G. Johnson for leaving the scene of an accident and Christopher C. Steffen with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/02/15/2070038/ky-sheriff-4-others-facing-federal.html#storylink=cpy