A Leitchfield man working as a deputy jailer at the LaRue County Detention Center has been fired and arrested after allegedly using racist and obscene language while on duty.
Zachary Behlke, 20, was arrested by Kentucky State Police on December 3 and charged with first-degree official misconduct and third-degree terroristic threatening, both charges are class A misdemeanors.
Behlke’s arrest came after an investigation by LaRue County Jailer Jody Perry and state police, which determined the suspect, while on duty as a deputy jailer at the detention center, participated in a live-stream speed dating show on the internet, according to a report by The News-Enterprise.
Behlke’s uniform can be seen while on camera, and he stated during the video that he was on duty.
During the course of the video, Behlke is accused of using “extreme obscene, racist and threatening language towards an individual on the live-stream,” The News-Enterprise reports.
Perry said he was made aware of the situation during the early-morning hours of December 1. After Perry confirmed Behlke’s alleged behavior, he fired Behlke for violating the jail’s code of ethics and social media policy, and turned over information obtained during his investigation to Kentucky State Police and the Hodgenville Police Department. Behlke was arrested two days later.
Behlke, who began working at the LaRue County Detention Center in September, was lodged in the Grayson County Detention Center but is no longer listed as an inmate.
As a deputy jailer younger than 21, Behlke had no direct supervision over inmates, Perry told The News-Enterprise.
As K105 previously reported via Kentucky Today, 18 inmates and two LaRue County Detention Center employees were baptized in a trough at the jail in August under the leadership of Perry and chaplain Wade Sams.
“God’s moving in this jail and he’s moving all the way through it … this has been a prayer on my heart for months that we’d have a revival in here” Perry said at the time.
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By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
