LEXINGTON, Ky. _ Former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said Thursday he would not reconsider a single pardon he issued, pushing back at the outrage sparked by several controversial pardons and commutations to people who were convicted of violent crimes like rape and murder.
In a 16-minute interview with Terry Meiners on WHAS 940, Bevin was asked specifically about two of his most controversial pardons _ one to Micah Schoettle, who was convicted of raping a young girl for years starting when she was 9-years-old in Kenton County, and one to Patrick Baker, who was convicted of murdering a man after breaking into his house to rob him in Knox County.
In Schoettle's case, Bevin said that child rapists are "scum of the earth." But Bevin said he believed Schoettle was innocent because there was "no evidence" that proved he did it.
"There was zero evidence," Bevin said of the 9-year-old and her sister. "Zero. Both their hymens were intact. This is perhaps more specific than people would want, but trust me, if you have been repeatedly sexually violated as a small child by an adult, there are going to be repercussions of that physically and medically. There was zero evidence of that."
Bevin went on to say that there is a system that should have "caught this long before then. You should not be sent to jail based on the uncorroborated word of a single individual."
Rob Sanders, the Kenton County commonwealth's attorney, has been critical of Bevin on social media and in news media following Bevin's pardons, saying the 48 hours during which he learned about Bevin's actions were some of the most infuriating in his life.
"What kind of message is our former governor sending to the citizens of Kentucky when he tells them he doesn't believe a child? God help the next child," Sanders told WLWT in Cincinnati.
Bevin also defended his pardon of Baker, whose brother and sister-in-law held a fundraiser in July 2018 that raised $21,500, including $8,500 from people with the last name Baker. Bevin was adamant that Baker was innocent.
"Whether somebody had a relative that gave money to a campaign, I got campaign donations from tens of thousands of people, I couldn't begin to know who's related to them," Bevin said.
Meiners pressed Bevin on the fact that Terry Forcht, a prominent Republican donor, sent a letter to Bevin requesting a pardon for Baker. Forcht's letter also asked Bevin to consider the application of Danielle Stansberry Matlock, who was convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of a controlled substance in 2005 along with two counts of receiving stolen property in 2001. Matlock also received a pardon.
Bevin said Forcht isn't just a donor to Republicans; he gives lots of money to charities.
"Why vilify a guy like that simply because he had an opinion of somebody who was incarcerated, who he thought should be worthy of consideration," Bevin said.
Bevin cast the pardons as part of bigger flaws in the criminal justice system. He said while he was in office, he asked then Attorney General Andy Beshear to create a "sentencing integrity unit" to make sure that no innocent people were in jail. But Beshear wouldn't do so, Bevin said.
"We should want there to be integrity in the system," Bevin said, before talking about how he thinks America has the greatest criminal justice system in the world. "But if we think it's a flawless system, we're kidding ourselves."
