A former chaplain at a Kentucky prison has been accused of sexually abusing an inmate.
Todd Boyce, then the head chaplain at the Eastern Kentucky Correctional Complex, abused the inmate in multiple ways between March and July 2022, the inmate alleged in a lawsuit filed June 29 in federal court.
The lawsuit does not name the inmate, referring to him as John Doe to protect his privacy and safety, said his attorney, John L. Caudill of Bowling Green.
The man is still an inmate at another state prison.
John Doe “brings this case to secure fair compensation and also to deter sexual abuse in Kentucky prisons in the future,” the lawsuit says.
The inmate ultimately reported the abuse to prison officials, which led to Boyce being fired as a chaplain and charged in state court after an investigation by Kentucky State Police, according to the complaint.
Boyce was indicted in September in Morgan County on a charge of third-degree sodomy, a felony punishable by one to five years in prison, and second-degree sexual abuse, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
Boyce has pleaded not guilty to the criminal charges and denies the allegations in the federal lawsuit, said his attorney, Eldred E. Adams Jr., of Louisa.
A spokesperson said the Department of Corrections has not received a copy of the lawsuit and could not comment.
The lawsuit is against Boyce and several officials at the prison in Morgan County who allegedly failed to properly supervise him and protect the inmate.
At least two other inmates were transferred out of the prison earlier after Boyce had inappropriate sexual contact with them, but his supervisors did not discipline him or restrict his access to inmates, the lawsuit alleged.
Boyce arranged for the inmate in the lawsuit to be alone with him in the prison chapel on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, the lawsuit said.
Boyce coerced the inmate to masturbate in front of him; masturbated in front of the inmate; told him not to not wear underwear and to cut a hole in the front of his pants; and performed oral sex on the inmate, the complaint alleges.
When the inmate told Boyce he didn’t want to take part in sexual acts, Boyce threatened retaliation against him by other inmates.
Boyce had cultivated influence with other inmates through violations of prison rules, including smuggling in contraband items, the lawsuit alleges.
Boyce allegedly bragged that other inmates had accused him of sexual abuse and nothing happened to him, so no one would believe John Doe if he reported anything.
As a result, the inmate’s mental health deteriorated and he started harming himself.
His cellmate saw and said he would report Boyce if John Doe didn’t, prompting him to file a complaint, according to the lawsuit.
Investigators at the prison placed a hidden microphone in Boyce’s office, which recorded him making statements that confirmed his abuse of the inmate, the lawsuit says.
Prison officials were aware two other inmates had been transferred because of misconduct by Boyce, but continued to allow him to have private, unsupervised meetings with inmates, the lawsuit says.
By failing to investigate Boyce earlier, other prison officials allegedly were “deliberately indifferent to a substantial risk of serious harm” to John Doe and others, the lawsuit says.
The complaint also alleges that after John Doe reported the abuse, prison officials have retaliated against him, including by removing him from classes that would have entitled him to privileges, falsely accusing him of violations and putting him in solitary confinement.
He was supposed to get out of prison last week but prison officials fabricated allegations against him and delayed his release, the lawsuit claims.
John Doe has suffered physical injuries, and endured physical pain and suffering, humiliation, embarrassment, mental anguish and severe emotional distress, the lawsuit says.
It seeks an unspecified amount of money to compensate John Doe and punish Boyce and others named in the lawsuit, as well as attorney fees.