A horrific tapestry of murder, sexual depravity, and systemic corruption is unraveling in Letcher County, Kentucky, where the execution-style killing of a district judge has blown the lid off allegations of a decades-long sex trafficking ring operated by the very county officials entrusted with upholding justice. The murder victim, District Judge Kevin Mullins, is now alleged by multiple women to have been a central orchestrator in a grotesque network of sexual coercion, drug abuse, and favor-trading that ensnared the local court and prison system, preying upon vulnerable women and addicts with impunity for years. This is not merely a local crime story; it is a shocking case study of the moral rot that can fester in unchecked, corrupt bureaucratic power structures.
One of the primary voices speaking out, a recovered drug addict and former inmate named Tya Adams, has provided detailed and damning testimony to the Daily Caller, painting a picture of a courthouse that functioned as a den of iniquity. Adams alleges she was groomed into this world as a teenager, stating, “Sex trafficking, extortion, prison for profit, embezzlement. I mean, you name it, it’s going on in our courthouse.” She describes a pattern of horrific abuse, telling the Caller that Mullins paid her for sexual favors when she was just 16 years old, claiming she was “groomed and ushered into sex work for the Letcher County Court higher-ups.” Her allegations include the use of cocaine, which she says was Mullins’ drug of choice, and that their illicit activities took place “all over the courthouse,” including in the very chambers where he was later murdered.
These explosive claims are not isolated. Investigative reporter Brian Entin of NewsNation has interviewed multiple other women who have come forward to corroborate various aspects of the alleged sex ring. Their collective testimony, alongside court documents, suggests a culture of corruption so pervasive it infected multiple levels of local government. A former corrections officer likened the jail to a brothel, telling Entin that officers would have sex with inmates in exchange for favors or contraband, with supervisors even allegedly taking inmates home for the night. Perhaps most damningly, Entin shared audio from an interview between a victim and state law enforcement in which the victim claimed to have seen a sex tape featuring higher-ups, including Mullins, engaging in sexual acts with an inmate in the judge’s chambers in exchange for reduced jail time.
The murder that brought this darkness into the light occurred in September 2024, when surveillance footage captured the then-sheriff, Shawn “Mickey” Stine, walking into Mullins’ office and allegedly firing six rounds into the judge. The motive remains part of an active investigation, but the context is deeply suspicious. Just three days before the shooting, Stine had given a deposition in a federal civil case brought by a woman named Sabrina Adkins, who claimed a former officer, Ben Fields, coerced her into sexual acts while she was jailed. Fields had already pleaded guilty to rape, sodomy, and other charges but maintained his relationship with Adkins was consensual. Another plaintiff in that case, Jennifer Hill, made similar claims of coercion before her death in 2023, a death that Adams darkly speculates may have been a murder disguised as a drug overdose.
In the aftermath of his arrest, Stine’s own condition hinted at the terrifying pressure of whatever shadowy truths he knew. Body camera footage showed him paranoid and fearful, telling Kentucky State Police, “I’ve seen the look… Don’t shoot me.” A jail assessment four days later found him in an “active state of psychosis,” disoriented, and presenting as “responding to internal stimuli.” This pervasive climate of fear extends to the whistleblowers. Adams herself told the Caller she fears for her life, stating, “This ain’t about a damn sex ring, this is organized cartel crime, and I connected the dots […] making me a liability.” Other sources, including a local investigator, have reported feeling followed and intimidated.
Adams further alleges that the corruption extended beyond the courthouse walls to a supposed place of refuge: the Addiction Recovery Center (ARC) in Louisa. She claims the center, rather than helping women recover, functioned as a “revolving door” designed to keep them dependent on drugs and thus more vulnerable to sexual exploitation by predatory officials.
The FBI has confirmed the ARC is under investigation, suggesting the scope of this scandal may reach even further. The Kentucky State Police, in a statement to the Caller, acknowledged only that the investigation is “active and ongoing,” offering no comment on the specific allegations of a county-wide sex ring, leaving a community in terror and a nation questioning what other horrors exist in the unseen corners of institutional power.
h/t: Steadfast and Loyal
