On Thursday, Judge Samuel Junkin formally recused himself from the case of Timothy Vess Benton, who pled guilty to two counts of sodomy, second degree, in 2019. Benton had been initially indicted on 46 other charges, including “enticing a child for immoral purposes.”

APR reported on Monday that Junkin approved Benton’s transfer to a house arrest program earlier this year. The family of one victim said they didn’t find out about the decision until weeks after the fact and that the judge’s reasoning didn’t make any sense.

In the order of recusal, Junkin first highlighted apparent difficulties “providing for [Benton’s] health and safety” in prison. A year before Benton committed the acts which led to his guilty plea, he suffered a traumatic brain injury that one physician wrote caused a “su

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