Tom Loftus

@TomLoftus_CJ

Billy Joe Miles, a prominent businessman and farmer from Western Kentucky who is a former chairman of the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees, was indicted Tuesday for first degree rape, first degree sodomy and bribing a witness.

Miles, 76, of Owensboro, was arrested later Tuesday and released from the Daviess County Detention Center after posting a $150,000 cash bond, surrendering his passport, and being ordered to have no contact with the alleged victim, said Capt. Bill Thompson, chief of detectives for the Daviess County Sheriff's Office.

Arraignment is set for Sept. 26.

A news release from the sheriff's office said that the charges stem from the complaint of a 29-year-old woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by Miles at his home in the early morning hours of July 2. Thompson said, "The family had hired a home health care company to care for Mr. Miles. The alleged victim was an employee of the health care company."

The indictment states that the rape and sodomy charges are Class B felonies that each – upon conviction – have a penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison. The bribing a witness charge is a Class D felony that carries a penalty of one to five years in prison. Each of the three counts carries a fine of 1,000 to $10,000.

The indictment charges that Miles committed sodomy "when he engaged in deviate sexual intercourse with another person by forcible compulsion."

The bribery charge alleges that Miles "offered, conferred or agreed to confer a pecuniary benefit upon a person he believed might be called as a witness in an official proceeding with intent to influence the testimony of that person."

Miles' attorney, Nick Goetz of Owensboro, had no comment Wednesday but may release a statement about the case later, according to Goetz's office.

At the request of Daviess County Commonwealth's Attorney Bruce Kuegel, the case is being prosecuted by the Special Prosecutions Office within the Kentucky Attorney General's Office. Terry Sebastian, spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said he could not comment on the pending case.

Miles served on the UK Board of Trustees between 1995 and 2013 and in September of 1999 he was elected to succeed former Gov. Edward T. Breathitt as the board's chairman. Milles continued as chairman until September 2002.

Miles graduated with a degree in agronomy from Western Kentucky University in 1962 and he was inducted into the WKU Hall of Distinguished Alumni in 1998.

A biography released at the time of his induction credited him with greatly expanding a small family business over three decades, and by the late 1990s he held leadership roles with the companies Miles Farm Supply, Marathon Fuels, Miles L.P. Gas and ExSeed Genetics. He has served as past president of the Kentucky Fertilizer and Agricultural Chemical Association, Kentucky Soil Conservation Districts and the Kentucky Soybean Association.

The biography said Miles has won many honors including the 1993 WKU Alumni Award and 1990 March of Dimes Man of the Year for Western Kentucky. He has served on governor’s task forces on agriculture and efficiency, the board of National City Bank of Kentucky, the Owensboro-Daviess County Planning and Zoning Commission, and boards of Owensboro Community College and Vanderbilt University Hospital.

He has four children including state Rep. Suzanne Miles, R-Owensboro.

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