A lawsuit has been filed in U.S. District Court by a Trigg County teenager who claims former Trigg County Sheriff Jason Barnes, three members of his department, and a former Cadiz police officer, groomed her for sex while she was interning through a high school program.
Layla Kunkle, who is listed as a 2020 graduate of Trigg County High School, filed the lawsuit through her attorney D. Wes Sullenger in U.S. District Court in Paducah on Dec. 17.
In addition to Barnes, the lawsuit names former deputies Jimmy Godair, Michael Parker, and Jeff Arena, and former Cadiz Police Officer Doug Latham as defendants. Trigg County Fiscal Court, the Trigg County Board of Education, and James Mangels, the director of personnel and student services with the school system, are also listed as defendants.