Nelson County deputy resigns; facing KSP official misconduct charge

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Friday, Oct. 14, 2016, 12:47 p.m. — Barbara Roby, a former Nelson County deputy sheriff assigned to court security, is facing four counts of first-degree official misconduct in the wake of an ongoing investigation by Kentucky State Police.

BARBARA ROBY

According to a uniform citation on file with the Nelson County Circuit Clerk’s office, the charges are based on Roby’s alleged failure to let authorities know the whereabouts of her son, Patrick Steven Rapier, when there were warrants for his arrest. According to a letter to Roby from Nelson County Sheriff Ed Mattingly, the charges stem from information recovered from Rapier’s phone following the execution of a search warrant.

The official misconduct charges are not directly connected with an incident involving the escape of Roby’s son from Nelson Circuit Judge Jack Seay’s courtroom on Thursday, Oct. 6. However, that incident is also under investigation by KSP.

Roby, who joined the sheriff’s office in November 2012, resigned Tuesday, Oct. 11.

Courtroom video posted of the escape incident reveals that Roby and another bailiff were in the courtroom during her son’s appearance before the judge. The other bailiff leaves the room, leaving Roby alone at the time Seay orders Rapier taken into custody. Roby is on one side of the courtroom as her son walks out the doors at the rear of the courtroom.

• Read Sheriff Ed Mattingly’s Oct 7 letter (pdf document)
• Read Barbara Roby’s Oct. 11 letter (pdf document)

Rapier was able to exit the building while deputies chased him on foot but were unable to apprehend him. He fled the parking lot in a vehicle and was later apprehended in Bloomfield.

SHERIFF ED MATTINGLY

In a letter written the next day, Nelson County Sheriff Ed Mattingly placed Roby on unpaid administrative leave pending his own investigation of the incident.

Mattingly wrote that he believed Roby failed to live up to the oath she took as a deputy sheriff, and that her conduct “reflects poorly upon the Office of Sheriff and creates unnecessary danger to the Deputies and Officers who must go out and apprehend [Rapier].

Mattingly’s letter also reveals that others in local law enforcement have questioned her ability to “make correct, ethical and moral decisions in regards to your son,” with complaints going back a number of years, including her period of employment as a Bardstown Police officer.

“Although none of the early complaints were ever investigated and substantiated it has been perceived and causes a negative view upon the department,” Mattingly wrote.

“I understand the love for a child but it can’t interfere with your duties as a Deputy with the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office.”

In her written response to Mattingly dated Tuesday, Oct. 11, Roby said she was “shocked and troubled” when her son walked out of the courtroom.

“Those actions were his and his alone and I had no part or involvement,” she wrote.

As the only bailiff in the courtroom, Roby stated she could not leave the courtroom unsecured. She followed her son out of the courtroom and alerted a deputy at the exit to stop her son. She described being left as the only bailiff in the courtroom “a no-win situation.”

Roby stated she found Mattingly’s statements that her actions put other deputies and officers in danger “most troubling,” adding that she would never and has never put another officer in danger.

“With this in mind, I feel that no matter the outcome of your investigation, I can no longer continue my service to the community through the Nelson County Sheriff’s Department.

RUMOR MILL. Roby’s attorney, Keith Sparks told Louisville’s WDRB on Thursday that rumors are circulating around the community that Roby helped her son in the escape.

“That’s just simply not true, and the sheriff isn’t saying that at all,” Sparks said on camera.

OFFICIAL MISCONDUCT CHARGES. Mattingly’s letter details his encounter with Roby on Aug. 25, 2016 — the day KSP Trooper Scott Brown attempted to interview her seeking information regarding a criminal case against her son. Roby told Mattingly that the trooper was seeking criminal charges against her in regard to her son.

In his letter, Mattingly recounted Roby telling him several instances where she admitted she helped her son or knew a family member was helping him by leaving money in a car for him to pick up and taking him food. The letter also states she told Mattingly of an instance when her son left a halfway house without permission.

After learning on Aug. 29 that KSP was going to pursue charges against Roby, Mattingly suspended his investigation.

Mattingly would not comment on the case beyond stating Roby is no longer a sheriff’s office employee.

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