Following his December admittance of guilt and his law enforcement career in ruins, former Trigg County Sheriff Jason Barnes was granted three years of probation and 90 days of house arrest with monitoring during his Tuesday sentence hearing in Trigg County Circuit Court.
A 1988 graduate of Trigg County High School with a long-time wife and two daughters, Barnes added an apology to a lengthy defense from his attorney, David Rye, in which he noted this mistake would follow him for the rest of his life.
After a lengthy career consisting of military service and emergency response, Barnes’ resigned as Trigg County’s sheriff on August 31, 2020, when an indictment from a grand jury was returned with one count of third-degree unlawful transaction with a minor and one count of tampering with a witness.
A joint investigation by officials with the Kentucky State Police, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky alleged that Barnes provided alcohol to a person under the age of 21 while as sheriff in February 2020.
The victim, Layla Kunkle, now reportedly living “thousands of miles away out west,” also filed a federal lawsuit against Barnes, three members of the sheriff’s department and a former Cadiz Police Department officer — stating she was groomed for sex while interning at the sheriff’s office through a high school program.
Aligning with the pre-sentence investigation, Rye said Barnes had no reason to be a repeat offender or a danger to society, and that his client’s embarrassment is overwhelming.
Circuit Court Judge C.A. “Woody” Woodall noted the objection of probation from special prosecutor Alex Garcia, and stated that even though Barnes was forthright in admitting his guilt, most of his punishment in the last 18 months had been self-imposed.
Therefore, Woodall deemed house arrest necessary.
Woodall added that a victim experienced harm, and that couldn’t be forgotten.
In his probation, Barnes is to have no contact with the victim or commit another criminal offense — lest he serve the recommended three-year sentence for his two charges.
Furthermore, Barnes’ house arrest in the first 90 days allows him only to work for his transportation company assisting Amish families, and nothing more.
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