Ex-leader of Ft. Knox youth academy sentenced

The former director of a military-style academy for teens run by the Kentucky National Guard has been sentenced to three months of home incarceration following his federal conviction for failing to report sexual abuse of girls attending the Bluegrass Challenge Academy.

John Wayne Smith, of Smiths Grove, Ky., a retired colonel in the National Guard, will serve 90 days at home under electronic monitoring, according to the sentence imposed Thursday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Colin Lindsay. Smith also was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.

Smith retired as academy director on Jan. 1, 2014. His sentencing brings to a close the federal case that resulted in charges against him and a former staff member convicted of sexual abuse of four girls at the program for teens struggling to finish high school.

Former staff member Stephen E. Miller, who supervised youths known as cadets, was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty in February to abusive sexual contact with three girls at the academy and sodomy with a fourth girl in 2013. All the girls were under 18 at the times of the offenses.

Five other former employees were placed in a pre-trial diversion program for failing to report the abuse.

The case prompted an overhaul of operations at the academy located at Fort Knox and new policies meant to ensure any suspected abuse is promptly reported to law enforcement or social service officials, as required by state and federal law.

"We're going to do everything humanly possible to make sure it doesn't happen again," new director Charles Jones, a brigadier general with the National Guard, told the Courier-Journal in March.

Smith's sentence on Thursday was harsher than sought by his lawyer, Darren Wolff, who had requested probation, and by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Gregory, who had asked for one month of home detention for the misdemeanor offense that carries up to a year in prison.

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But Lindsay, in imposing the sentence, said it was appropriate given that Smith, who served as director from 2003 through 2013, was the top official in charge of the academy where "vulnerable minors" live and study in a military-style environment and have limited contact with family and friends.

Lindsay also cited a seeming lack of remorse by Smith.

"Your lawyer tells me you're sorry," Lindsay said. "I have not heard that from you. I have heard nothing that convinces me that you are sorry for what you did."

Smith declined an offer from the judge to make a statement in court.

His lawyer had argued for a lesser sentence, saying Smith was remorseful and that his offense was a "case of omission" for failing to report the abuse, not actually committing abuse.

But Gregory, the prosecutor, said that Smith's failure to report the abuse when he first learned of allegations against Miller in February 2013 allowed Miller to prey on more victims. Law enforcement uncovered the earlier conduct in August 2013 only after a female cadet told staff Miller forced her to perform oral sex, according to court records.

"The consequences are that the initial victim had to stay in school with her abuser," Gregory said at the hearing. "The worst consequences are that more girls were abused because nothing was done."

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Wolff, seeking a lighter sentence, said Smith retired from the Kentucky National Guard after an exemplary career of 28 years and enjoys widespread support of his southern Kentucky community, including friends at his church where he serves as a Sunday school teacher and deacon.

In a show of support, about 25 people attended Smith's sentencing hearing and 90 supporters sent letters on his behalf to the judge, citing his history of community involvement and public service.

"This is an individual who has served his community, his state and his nation," Wolff said. "It almost brings a tear to my eye to sit here and contemplate he may be taken into custody."

Lindsay acknowledged that support and Smith's military career.

"That's why you are being placed on home incarceration in the comfort of your own home rather than reporting to prison," Lindsay said.

Lindsay said Smith will be allowed to leave his home once a day to help care for his elderly mother but declined his lawyer's request that Smith be allowed to leave his home for church services and to teach his Sunday school class.

He also ordered Smith to pay $2,438 in restitution to one of the girls to cover costs of treatment she sought after the abuse.

Smith remains on the ballot as a candidate for the Kentucky House of Representatives, running as a Democrat in the state's 19th District against Republican incumbent Michael Meredith. The misdemeanor conviction would not preclude him from seeking state office.

In a brief interview after the hearing, Smith didn't directly address his case but said he was proud of his 10-year career at the academy, during which time hundreds of youths completed the program and earned high school degrees.

"I am disappointed about what's happened to Bluegrass Challenge Academy," he said. "It's absolutely a great place."

Contact reporter Deborah Yetter at (502)582-4228 or at dyetter@courier-journal.com.