Kenneth Hart/The Independent
Ashland — A federal judge has dismissed a civil lawsuit against former Elliott County Jailer Charles Howard that was filed by the woman Howard was convicted of raping.
U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning entered an order on Tuesday dismissing Sara Senters’ complaint, which also named Howard’s wife, Christy, and Elliott County Fiscal Court as defendants.
The matter was dismissed because more than 120 days had elapsed since the filing of the suit and the defendants still had not been served, according to court records.
The suit was filed on Aug. 28, two months after a Boyd Circuit Court jury convicted Howard of raping Senters while he was transporting her from Sandy Hook to the Boyd County Detention Center on Aug. 31, 2008, and sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
The Independent does not publish the names of sex crime victims without their permission, or unless they choose to come forward by seeking compensation through civil litigation.
Senters’ suit was filed by Catlettsburg attorney Andy Markelonis. The case originally was assigned to Senior Judge Henry R. Wilhoit Jr., but was later reassigned to Bunning.
On Jan. 4, Bunning issued an order in which he noted that summonses had been issued for each defendant in the case, and that more than 120 days had elapsed “without any record that service ... was effectuated.”
Bunning gave Senters until Jan. 22 to serve the defendants, or show cause for not doing so. When that didn’t happen, the judge dismissed the suit.
Bunning dismissed the suit without prejudice, meaning it could possibly be refiled.
In the suit, Senters accused Howard of violating her civil rights, and the fiscal court of “deliberate indifference” for failing to provide a female deputy to either transport female prisoners or to accompany the jailer while he was transporting them.
The suit also alleged that Christy Howard’s failure to accompany her husband was a “proximate cause” of Senters’ rape and rendered her liable as well. Christy Howard occasionally worked as a jailer matron and was paid on a per-trip basis for her services.
The lawsuit sought unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, along with attorney fees and court costs.
Charles Howard, 51, is currently lodged in the Men’s Assessment & Classification Center, located at the Roederer Correctional Complex in LaGrange, according to the Kentucky Offender Online Lookup System. He is appealing his conviction.
If his conviction and sentence stand, Howard will have to serve 85 percent of his prison term before he is eligible for parole consideration.
Howard resigned as jailer following his conviction. The fiscal court appointed Mark E. Lewis, who had been performing Howard’s duties on an interim basis, to replace him.
KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.
