|
BARLOW FOUND NOT
GUILTY
Summaries of
articles taken from the Paducah Sun, August 30,
2007 through September 1, 2007
Benton, Kentucky
Kent
Barlow’s life changed dramatically in November
2006 when false allegations were made that he
had inappropriately touched a 5-year-old boy.
The former Marshall County middle school
principal would have to wait nine months for a
jury to hear testimony presented by prosecutor
Lynn Pryor and defense attorney Mark Bryant.
Mark Bryant told jurors that he would lay out a
case proving that the allegations were false and
were made as part of a contested divorce between
Barlow and his ex-wife Cindy. He said Cindy
Barlow orchestrated the ruse to get sole custody
of the couples’ twin sons.
Pryor, from
Hopkinsville, was appointed special prosecutor
after Commonwealth Attorney Mike Ward recused
himself. His daughter, Emily Ward Roark of
Bryant Law Center P.S.C., was one of Kent
Barlow’s attorneys. Judge Craig Clymer was
appointed special judge after Marshall Circuit
Judge Dennis Foust stepped aside because of his
familiarity with Barlow and some of the
witnesses.
The
courtroom, with a capacity of 74, was full.
Many stood in line prior to testimony to make
sure they got a seat.
On the
first day of the trial, the jury heard testimony
from the boy, now 6; and Detective John Sims of
the Kentucky State Police who initially
investigated the allegations.
Thursday,
August 3l, 2007 Stacy Allbritten, a social
services investigator for the Kentucky Cabinet
of Health and Family Services was called as a
witness. Allbritten testified that when she
first interviewed the boy, he did not raise
allegations of abuse. She
stated that she
then had a separate conversation with the boy’s
brother before talking to the first child
again. “When you first interviewed the kid, he
told you nothing happened,” Bryant said. “He
did not say anything about the sexual abuse
allegation, correct,” Allbritten responded.
Bryant asked Allbritten to read from a
transcript of that interview in which the boy
said several times he had not been touched
inappropriately or asked to touch anyone else
inappropriately.
Cindy
Barlow testified that her ex-husband had been
taking Ambien, a sleep aid, at the time. She
said that while he was on the medication he was
more “sexually suggestive and uninhibited”. Dr.
Henry Spiller, a toxicologist and director of
the Kentucky Regional Poison Center said that
while the medication can induce sleep-walking,
there have been no reports of unusual sexual
behavior by people on the drug.
Additional
witnesses included Barlow’s mother, Bernadine
Barlow who stated that Cindy had expressed
interest in a “scriptural divorce”.
Day three
of the trial included additional witnesses
testifying on behalf of Kent Barlow. In closing
statements, Mark Bryant said that this week’s
trial was the culmination of a plot against Kent
Barlow engineered by his ex-wife. “There is
enough reasonable doubt in this case to drive a
Mack truck through it,” Bryant said.
Prosecutor Lynn
Pryor, in her closing statement, said that even
if jurors had heard unflattering statements
about Cindy Barlow, she was not the one on
trial.
After an
hour of deliberations, jurors asked to hear the
videotape of the testimony given by the alleged
victim on the first day of the trial. They
watched the tape for more than an hour, went
back into deliberations, and reached a verdict
minutes later.
Kent Barlow
was found not guilty. His next priority will be
regaining custody of his two young sons. “There
are no words that can describe what I’ve been
through in the last nine months.” In addition
to reuniting with his sons, Barlow is eager to
clear his name. “I’d like to know where the
line is to get your reputation back,” he said.
“I’d like to be the first one in that line.”
|
