Beech Tree News Network

A high-profile criminal case in Butler County has ended with plea agreement.  On December 2, 2020, Richie Bratcher, 53, of Morgantown was charged with three (3)counts of Prohibited Use of an Electronic Communication System to Procure a Minor.

Commonwealth Attorney Blake Chambers made an offer to Bratcher on December 9, 2022, to plead guilty to an amended charge of one count of unlawful transaction with a minor, 2nd degree. Bratcher accepted the offer, entered a guilty plea, and was sentenced to 5 years. The sentence was then altered to 60 days on house arrest with a monitor, no unsupervised contact with minor children, no electronic /online contact with minor children, and a resignation from employment with the Butler County School District.

ORIGINAL STORY (December 2020):  

Law enforcement officers and investigators descended on a Welcome Road residence in north Butler County on Wednesday, December 2, 2020. Following the execution of a search warrant, Richie Bratcher, age 51, of Morgantown, was arrested on multiple charges related to sending sexually explicit messages to a minor.

According to a press release from the Kentucky State Police - Post 3, Bratcher was arrested as the result of an investigation after discovering sexually explicit messages to a minor.

The investigation resulted in the execution of a search warrant at a residence near Morgantown. Equipment used to facilitate the crime was seized for examination. Bratcher, an employee of the Butler County Board of Education, has been charged with three (3) counts of Prohibited Use of an Electronic Communication System to Procure a Minor.

 Butler County School Superintendent Robert Tuck released the following statement on Wednesday night about the situation.

"I have learned that an employee of the Butler County School District has been arrested by the Kentucky State Police on charges of three (3) counts of Prohibited Use of an Electronic Communication System to Procure a Minor. I have taken appropriate action to remove this individual from the District at this time. Due to individual privacy rights, we are unable to comment further at this time."