Judge says she is ‘losing patience’ in former Gov. Matt Bevin's child support case

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A judge said Monday that former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin still needs to produce more income documents in his child support case.

The case involves his adopted son, Jonah Bevin, who is seeking retroactive child support.

Matt Bevin wasn't in court Monday because he was not required to be, according to his attorney Jesse Mudd.

"We produced 30 months of bank statements from 5 years from their investment accounts," Mudd said. "Unless we're just here to have Matt Bevin put in jail or make him look bad, what we need is to work more collaboratively on what they still need."

Matt Bevin sent WDRB several emails Friday with pictures. Mudd confirmed the emails came from the former governor.

"Jonah, who is an adult, is the only one of nine children attempting in coordination with dishonest representatives to shake his parents down for money," Matt Bevin said in an email.

Matt Bevin was ordered to turn over financial records in the case by June 5, but Jonah Bevin’s attorney said there are still gaps.

That’s when the judge issued a third warrant for his arrest, which remains active.

"This is not about making Matt Bevin go to jail, OK," Judge Angela Johnson said. "If he would do what’s right, like I require every other person that comes in here, then I will happily rescind that bench warrant, but he needs to do what’s right."

"I am losing patience at this point," Johnson said. "You all know full well that tax returns, business interests, how much you have, you know what to turn in. I can not do this anymore. I cannot guide you any more, so you can do the bare minimum and nothing more."

The judge said she'll rescind the bench warrant, if Matt Bevin turns in all the required documents.

In closed court proceedings, Jonah Bevin alleges his home life was far different than what was portrayed to the media. He has accused his parents of years of emotional and physical abuse inside the home.

Jonah Bevin said his relationship with his adoptive parents deteriorated further before he was sent to a series of behavioral programs and boarding schools, including the Atlantis Leadership Academy in Jamaica when he was 17.

"Jonah was living 1750 miles away, flew back to Kentucky, made these false claims about fearing for his life with no evidence provided, and was successful in fooling a judge into believing his false claims," Matt Bevin said in an email.

"Matt and Glenna were repeatedly in touch with Jamaican and US authorities starting the first day they were informed by the State Department that the school had been shut down... despite the blatantly false claims by one of these advocates," Matt Bevin said in an email. "Matt Bevin handled all the coordination with the US Embassy and the Jamaican authorities, and paid for 100% of all the associated costs to fly Jonah back to the U.S... phone records and credit card records clearly prove this."

The next hearing is scheduled for late July.

"Turn it over, show good faith efforts to turn it over so that we can determine if I'm going to grant child support or how much," Johnson said.