A rural Kentucky judge, who was fatally shot in his chambers last year, allegedly operated a perverse sex ring where young women were manipulated into performing sexual acts to avoid legal trouble, according to one of the purported victims. Tya Adams claims she was ensnared in the alleged sex-for-favors operation led by Judge Kevin Mullins and others in the small town of Whitesburg. The scheme reportedly involved demanding sexual favors in exchange for money or to help offenders evade legal consequences.
Adams shared her account on NewsNation’s “Banfield,” stating that Mullins, who was shot execution-style in his Letcher County chambers, allegedly by his longtime friend and sheriff Shawn Stines, had cautioned her to remain silent about the alleged illicit ring. Adams claimed that they were coerced into participating in sex parties and performing sexual acts for money. She stated that while the acts were consensual, the participants were young and the experiences were later used against them.
Adams expressed that she felt compelled to participate in the judge’s scheme out of fear that Child Protective Services would intervene and disrupt her life. She described the psychological manipulation involved, stating that they were made to feel insignificant and degraded to strip them of their power.
Adams also suggested that the alleged misconduct was an open secret in the town, stating that it was “just a given” that she would remain silent about the apparent depravity. She questioned who would believe her, as she claimed the entire town was involved and indifferent to the situation.
In a separate account, Sarah Davis, a former deputy jailer at the Letcher County lockup, confirmed that she had heard about the disturbing stories emerging from the parties. Davis claimed that the knowledge of the alleged sex ring was widespread in the county, a fact that was confirmed to her during her tenure at the county jail.
The allegations add to the unsettling claims that have surfaced following Mullins’ murder last year, including the suggestion that the judge had been operating his courthouse akin to a “brothel.” It was later revealed that during a 2022 criminal investigation into a Letcher County deputy sheriff, who was subsequently imprisoned for rape and sodomy of a female inmate, a woman named Sabrina Adkins implicated Mullins in the alleged sextortion racket.
Adkins alleged that she was forced by then-deputy sheriff Ben Fields to perform sexual acts in exchange for house arrest. She claimed to have witnessed Mullins having sex with a girl in his chambers and stated that Fields, who was dismissed following the investigation, had videotapes of sexual activities in the judge’s chambers.
Authorities have not confirmed whether the alleged sextortion scheme was related to Mullins’ murder. The judge had been friends with his accused killer for many years and was seen having lunch with him just hours before he was shot on September 18. Surveillance footage allegedly shows the sheriff entering his friend’s office, making multiple calls to his daughter, and then opening fire. Stines, who resigned shortly after the shooting and is currently detained in an eastern Kentucky jail without bond, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder of a public official.