Sheriff’s deputy accused of trading sex for waiving home-incarceration fees

The deputy coerced a woman to have sex with him in a judge's office, according to claims in a federal lawsuit

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (WTVQ) – A Letcher County Sheriff’s deputy is accused in a federal lawsuit of coercing a woman to have sex with him in a judge’s office in exchange for allowing her to avoid paying home-incarceration fees.

Deputy Ben Fields is accused in the suit of unwanted sexual conduct which violated the constitutional rights of Sabrina Adkins, of Pike County.

The suit also claims Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines didn’t properly supervise Deputy Fields.

Sheriff Stines told the Lexington Herald-Leader that Fields had a contract job handling home-incarceration monitoring that was not related to his job at the sheriff’s office, where he was a court-security officer.  The report says Fields was suspended without pay from the sheriff’s office after the lawsuit was filed on Monday.  The report says Sheriff Stines referred the matter to Kentucky State Police.  The newspaper says Fields could not be reached for comment.

According to court records, Sabrina Adkins has an arrest record on drug and other charges in Letcher and Pike counties.

After being in jail in Letcher County from April 2021 to June 2, she was placed on home incarceration with an electronic ankle monitor, according to the suit.

She was required to pay a monitoring fee for the device and Fields was assigned to monitor her, according to the lawsuit.

The suit says Fields went to see Adkins the night she was released from jail to take her some cigarettes and console her.  Adkins told Fields she didn’t have money to pay the monitoring fee, but was terrified to go back to the Letcher County Jail.  Fields then made flirtatious comments about Adkins’ looks and body and told her he was sure they could “work something out,” according to the suit.

The two communicated by text and in late June, Fields asked Adkins to meet him at the county courthouse in the evening and took her to the office of District Judge Kevin Mullins, telling her he wanted to meet her there because there weren’t any cameras, according to the suit.

Fields took the ankle monitor off Adkins and told her she didn’t have to pay the fee anymore, but could remain on home incarceration, according to the lawsuit.

According to the complaint, between June and December, Fields met Adkins at the courthouse about six times after hours.  Over that time, Fields’ behavior progressed from making flirtatious comments to forcibly kissing Adkins, then to oral sex and intercourse in the judge’s chambers, according to the suit.

Adkins was coerced to go along because of Fields’ power over her, her inability to pay the monitoring fee and her fear of going back to jail, according to the suit.

According to the suit, the meetings usually took place before Adkins’ court hearings.  Fields would put the ankle monitor back on Adkins to make it appear she was in compliance with home-incarceration rules, according to the suit.

In December, people at the courthouse received notice of Fields’ inappropriate conduct, including text messages, according to the complaint.  Once Fields found out, he stopped communicating with Adkins and in late January, “maliciously” filed a complaint saying she was not complying with home incarceration, all in an effort to save his job, according to the lawsuit.

Adkins was arrested in January on a bail-jumping charge, according to records.

The lawsuit says she is “terrified” of going back to jail, where Fields’ wife works.

The suit claims Fields abused other women as well.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of money to compensate Adkins and punish Fields.

Adkins’ complaint was filed by Prestonsburg attorney Ned Pillersdorf along with attorneys Bethany N. Baxter and Joe F. Childers, of Lexington.