LETCHER COUNTY, Kentucky — The jury trial for a former Letcher County deputy sheriff will begin next week.
Ben Fields is charged with two counts of third-degree rape, two counts of third-degree sodomy, three counts of tampering with a prisoner monitoring device and second-degree perjury.
The charges stem from allegations that Fields offered to help multiple women on home incarceration in exchange for sexual favors between 2021 and 2022.
His trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 3 at 9 a.m. in Letcher County, Kentucky.
Victim files lawsuit
A 2022 lawsuit alleged one woman was arrested as retaliation after officials learned about the inappropriate behavior Fields had with the woman.
According to the suit, Fields was assigned to be the woman’s home incarceration officer after she was released from the Letcher County Jail in June 2021.
The suit said the woman was struggling to find housing and couldn’t afford to pay for her ankle bracelet. Fields allegedly made flirtatious comments about her body and said he was “confident that they could ‘work something out.’”
He promised to remove her ankle bracelet so she wouldn’t have to pay the fees, but remain on home incarceration, in exchange for sexual favors, according to the lawsuit.
The woman said she and Fields met several times at the Letcher County Courthouse. The sexual abuse would take place after hours in the judge’s chambers because there were no cameras there.
Fields would then put the woman’s ankle monitor back on the night before a court appearance.
According to the lawsuit, someone in the courthouse learned of the inappropriate exchange and had text messages between the two regarding the allegations. When Fields learned of this, the lawsuit says he stopped communicating with the woman.
In January of 2022, Fields filed a complaint against the woman saying she had escaped custody and was not complying with the terms of her home incarceration.
Despite knowing this was a false statement, the lawsuit said Fields did this to “punish [the woman]” and “save his own job and reputation.” According to the suit, an arrest warrant was issued for her, and she was arrested.
Grand jury indictment
In September of 2022, a grand jury indicted Fields on several charges stemming from the inappropriate relationship he had with multiple women.
According to court documents, two more women came forward with similar allegations listed in the first victim’s lawsuit.
Fields was also indicted on the false statements he made regarding the first woman.
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