Committee brings articles of impeachment against prosecutor who traded favors for nude photos

Articles of Impeachment have been brought forward by a House committee against Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronnie Goldy.

Goldy, who handles felony cases in the 21st Circuit of Bath, Montgomery, Menifee and Rowan counties, became ensnared in controversy when news broke that he did legal favors for a woman in exchange for nude photos.

Screen shots of Facebook messages provided to the Lexington Herald-Leader showed that Goldy sent the woman, Misty Helton, gas money at one point; searched whether she had outstanding arrest warrants; said he would try to move court dates for her; and advised her on getting back her car, which had been impounded after an arrest.

The final report of the committee included 199 pages of Facebook messages between Goldy and Helton.

There are three articles of impeachment:

- The first is based on the Kentucky Supreme Court’s suspension of Goldy’s license, rendering him unable to perform the obligations of his office.

- The second is based on his inappropriate communications with a defendant without her attorney attorney present.

- The third is related to his receiving something as quid pro quo for actions as Commonwealth’s Attorney.

Goldy defends himself in a 55-page response, forwarding a claim that the nude photos and videos Helton sent him were “an extension of the friendship they had developed.” He cites an interview conducted by the Mt. Sterling Advocate with Helton, who told a reporter that Goldy was trying to do the right thing and was “a good person.”

He said in his response that “at NO time” did he ever ask Helton for nude images and instead asked her for video of illegal drug activity.

With the impeachment committee’s move to approve the articles of impeachment, the next step is for the House to vote to move forward with impeachment. If the House impeaches him, the case would be prosecuted before the state Senate

Three different Commonwealth’s Attorneys, members of the Prosecutors Advisory Council, told the committee that Goldy’s actions “rose to a level of violation of public trust sufficient to warrant impeachment.”

If the full House votes to impeach Goldy, the case would be prosecuted before the state Senate.

Unlike another Commonwealth’s Attorney facing potential impeachment, Rick Boling, Goldy has not yet resigned from his office.

The resolution to impeach Goldy was first brought forward by Rep. Jason Nemes, R-Louisville, who has previously held administrative roles in the state’s judicial system.