Clark County sheriff releases surveillance video, refutes claim that women were sexually assaulted inside jail

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The Clark County Sheriff's Office released surveillance footage on Tuesday, trying to refute claims that dozens of female inmates were harassed, threatened and sexually assaulted while being housed at the jail.

The release of the footage, and a civil rights lawsuit, stems from a night prosecutors said a jail officer sold male inmates a key to access a women's dorm.

The footage was released on a new website, "Clark County Facts," created by Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel devoted to showing people "the truth about what happened in the early morning hours of October 24th." A central figure of the website will be "busting myths and correcting the numerous lies being told by showing what really happened."

On the site, Noel writes that "liars have been caught red-handed," dismissing the claim that 28 women were terrorized by showing 60 seconds of video as male inmates walked into one of the female inmate pods.

Prosecutors have said former jail officer David Lowe sold them a key on his last day.

"And he was leaving the facility, he made his deal with those inmates so he could access the key. You can't control a criminal inside your organization as the sheriff's department because you don't know you've hired someone who is a criminal," Larry Wilder, Noel's attorney, said Monday. "(Lowe) had resigned. ... and he was leaving the facility."

A civil rights lawsuit filed in July on behalf of eight female inmates claims the men entered the pod before midnight, but the sheriff refutes that claim with a 49-second clip saying they actually came in after 2 a.m. and that the women in question don't show signs of distress.

Another 11-second clip, recorded more than 30 minutes later, shows two men with towels wrapped around their heads leaving the women's pod.

Larry Wilder.jpeg — Attorney Larry Wilder (WDRB photo)

The footage was reviewed by the U.S. Marshals and the FBI.

"This video shows you what didn't happen, and I submit to you, based on what I've seen, nothing happened," Wilder said. "What I'm telling you is what I've watched on here does not indicate that there was any sexual assault."

But Attorney Stephen Wagner disagrees.

"If this is the best the sheriff has, is 60 seconds of video of the common area, and he thinks that is what exonerates him from liability or contradicts the women's story, then he's crazy," Wagner said.

Wagner is representing eight women now suing Noel and the Clark County Jail on a federal civil rights case. He said all the video reveals is poor security at the jail.

"All having their heads covered and shouting out all sorts of vulgarities, threats, and then they made good on those threats," he said. "For over two hours, the men kept coming and going and accessing all of the women's pods that were connected to this pod, and it just didn't stop. And the women tried to hide. They, I have accounts of women getting in their bunks and pulling sheets up, or getting under their bunks, or going into the women's restroom and hiding in there."

The lawsuit says women were sexually groped, threatened and at least two were raped. The suit also alleges the jail punished the women after the incident by confiscating their blankets and pillows and denying them normal privileges.

The "Clark County Facts" website promises more releases, however the footage contains several gaps, noticed in time changes on the clock. Nonetheless, it's the administration's way of firing back after a demonstration by Clark County Democrats this week calling for the resignations of Noel, Chief Deputy Scotty Maples and the jail commanders.

"The sheriff, and no one, has run around, making wild allegations that cannot be supported at the end of the day by fact and evidence," Wilder said.

Wilder said interviews recorded in the hours following the night paint a different picture than the women are claiming now.

"In the immediate aftermath, they're terrified," Wagner said. "I think, initially, each woman said 'Nothing happened, nothing happened, nothing happened,' Well, we know something happened."

At least one other lawsuit has been filed in connection with the incident by other Jane Does. Fourteen women announced plans to sue the Clark County Sheriff's Department over the incident in December 2021, each seeking $700,000 in damages.

But Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull said Monday he's yet to see any evidence to support charging anyone with sex crimes in the case.

One night, two sides of the story, and now at least two lawsuits to settle the truth.

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