Adopted son of former Kentucky governor Matt Bevin alleges years of abuse, neglect

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A shocking case of alleged abuse has surfaced against former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin and his adopted son Jonah Bevin.

Now 18 years old, Jonah has come forward with disturbing accusations of mistreatment by his adoptive parents, claiming they attempted to make him "disappear" by sending him away to various reform schools.

Citing years of being paraded in front of the media during Bevin's political career, Dawn Post, a New York-based attorney working with Jonah, said he's been through a lot in his lifetime.

"He felt that he was forced out to these political events and forced to smile and be part of that happy family picture that he believed did not exist," Post said.

On Friday, a Jefferson County judge granted Jonah's emergency protection order against Bevin just hours after requesting it. However, Post said Jonah was denied an emergency protection order against his adoptive mother, Glenna Bevin, Matt Bevin's estranged wife.

There is no attorney listed for Bevin in online court records. WDRB's attempts to reach the former governor through the lawyer in his divorce case have been unsuccessful.

Post said she believes the Bevins didn't know how to handle the trauma Jonah endured before they adopted him.

"And so that really laid the groundwork in terms of what his relationship allegedly was with his adoptive parents, and it grew to become more confrontational," Post said.

Post said Jonah Bevin was sent away by the Bevins, as early as 13, to a program called Master's Ranch in Missouri.

"At that program, they sleep in coffin beds," Post said. "Beds that are stacked on top of each other where you have to slide your feet in as if it is almost like a morgue," Post said.

In addition, Post said Jonah experienced severe abuse at Master's Ranch. After one particular beating, Jonah and a 12-year-old tried to run away.

"He ended up going to other programs and all of them have had significant issues in terms of abuse and even fatality allegations," Post said.

One of those programs, Atlantis Leadership Academy in Jamaica, is now shut down. After just three days at Atlantis, Jonah and another child ran away.

"They did not get very far," Post said. "They were caught. They were immediately significantly beaten. Jonah describes how he had to clean up his own blood after repeated beatings."

"They were kept awake," Post said. "Sleep deprivation for five days. They had no access to food or water. They were drinking out of a toilet to be able to remain hydrated."

Post also said the abuse even included waterboarding and kneeling on bottle caps.

After leaving Jamaica, Jonah ended up in Utah, homeless.

In the protection order, Jonah said the Bevins tried to send him back to his home country of Ethiopia in February, but that didn't happen after Jonah felt uneasy about the situation.

Jonah is now back in Kentucky.

According to court documents, Jonah recalls a time he was arrested after an altercation with Bevin. In the documents, Jonah said his adopted dad Matt Bevin said '"I can take your life" and "I can make your life miserable."'

"His adoptive parents hold a great deal of power and influence in the state and they could use that in order to harm him," Post said.

A GoFundMe has been started to help Jonah get on his feet, but he said he's also hoping to help other adopted kids who are in similar situations.

"Other kids need help and their voices need to be heard too, so if you can help support them, please support them," Jonah said in a video posted to the GoFundMe.

Former Governor Matt Bevin can't have any contact or communication with Jonah, and had to surrender his firearms, pending a March 19 court hearing.

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