Recordings: Woman says slain Kentucky judge was involved in alleged sextortion scandal

(NewsNation) — Exclusively-obtained audio recordings purportedly tie a now-dead Kentucky judge to an alleged sex-for-favors scandal one week after the suspect, a former sheriff, pleaded not guilty to killing him.

District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was in his chambers at a courthouse in Whitesburg, Kentucky, on Sept. 19 when Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. “Mickey” Stines, 43, allegedly shot and killed him.

The recordings, obtained by Nexstar's NewsNation, are from the criminal investigation into a Letcher County deputy sheriff who went to prison earlier this year for rape and sodomy of a female inmate in 2022.

“He does have some videotapes of some stuff in the judge’s chambers… just with girls, sexual and stuff,” said Sabrina Adkins, who has spoken publicly about her claims of former Deputy Sheriff Ben Fields using his position of power to pressure her and other women to have sex in exchange for favorable treatment.

Adkins' attorney, Ned Pillersdorf, told NewsNation, "it's like they were running a brothel out of that courtroom."

She and another woman filed a civil rights lawsuit against Fields in 2022, at which point Stines fired him.

Fields pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six months in the county jail, the Mountain Eagle reported.

Stines was also named in the lawsuit for not properly training or supervising Fields. Stines was deposed in the ongoing lawsuit days before Mullins’ killing and said he was not aware of any wrongdoing at the time.

Adkins told police she saw one of the videos, which she claims shows the deputy sheriff and “some higher ups” having sex in Mullins' chambers in exchange for granting the inmates bail to get out of jail.

The investigator in the audio asks Adkins to clarify whom she allegedly saw in the video.

“I seen Judge Mullins having sex with a girl,” she said.

“Where was it at?” the investigator asked.

“In his office, in the judge’s chambers,” she responded.

She said she knew it was the judge’s chamber because she had been there before. According to the lawsuit she filed, Fields allegedly told her they could “work something out” when she informed him she couldn’t afford to pay for her ankle monitor for her house arrest in 2021.

Stines was arrested at the courthouse where Mullins was killed and charged with first-degree murder. He was arraigned Nov. 25 on new charges of murder of a public official, which he pleaded not guilty to through his lawyer.

Mullins served as a judge for 15 years.