(CNN) — Already facing outrage over hundreds of pardons he issued in his final days in office, Kentucky’s former governor drew further anger when he defended his pardon of a child rapist by stating that the 9-year-old victim was not injured badly enough to support a rape conviction.

The pardons and commutations by Matt Bevin are being criticized not only because of the sheer number and apparent political motivations, but because some of those pardoned are murderers or rapists.

In a radio interview Thursday with WHAS in Louisville, Bevin defended his pardon of a man convicted of raping a 9-year-old girl. Because the girl’s hymen was intact, he said, the man should not have been found guilty.

“Trust me, if you had been repeatedly sexually violated as a small child by an adult, there are going to be repercussions of that, physically and medically,” Bevin told WHAS host Terry Meiners.

His claim contradicts expert studies finding that most child rape victims do not show evidence of physical damage and that examination of the hymen is not a reliable test of sexual activity. In fact, a 2012 study by the peer-reviewed journal Forensic Science International found that 90 percent of child victims don’t suffer physical damage from sexual abuse.

“His assertion that clearly somebody would have known if they simply looked — and the doctor can tell that a child is being sexually abused — we’ve known that is a false statement for decades,” said Dr. James Crawford-Jakubiak, medical director of the Center for Child Protection at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.

“Essentially what he’s saying to pedophiles and people who would sexually abuse children is, ‘If you don’t cause an injury, you won’t be prosecuted because the only person that can tell what happened is the child,” Crawford-Jakubiak said.

The case involved a man named Micah Schoettle, who was convicted in 2018 in Kenton County of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse, and sentenced to 23 years in prison. He had served fewer than 18 months when Bevin pardoned him.

“Micah Schoettle was tried and convicted of a heinous crime based only on testimony that was not supported by any physical evidence,” Bevin wrote in his executive order signed December 9, his last day in office. “In fact, any and all evidence that is available refutes the allegations that were made.”

He added that the case was investigated and prosecuted in a “manner that was sloppy at best.”

Schoettle’s trial had included testimony from the victim.

Crawford-Jakubiak said Bevin “betrayed the trust this girl had that the system was going to give her an opportunity to tell the truth and she would be listened to.”

The mother of Schoettle’s victim called his pardon a “slap in the face,” TV station WCPO reported.

“It feels like we’re going through it all over again … we just got to the point where we felt safe leaving the house and not looking over our shoulders,” the mother said, adding that she is considering moving her family.

Prosecutor Rob Sanders of Kenton County, who prosecuted the case originally, said his office will investigate the pardons in his county including the Schoettle case. He added that he “would prefer a statewide investigation led by either federal law enforcement or a special prosecutor appointed by the Kentucky Attorney General.”

Bevin’s final actions in office didn’t become public until the Louisville Courier Journal reported on the high volume of pardons. Bevin, a Republican, was narrowly defeated in November by Democrat Andy Beshear.

Bevin defended the moves in a series of 20 tweets last week, saying he personally reviewed each case he pardoned and calling questions about “the motives and involvement of anyone else in the administration is highly inappropriate and irresponsible.”

“Not one person receiving a pardon would I not welcome as a co-worker, neighbor, or to sit beside me or any member of my family in a church pew or at a public event,” he tweeted. Bevin added, “No community is either more or less safe now, than it was before the pardons and commutations given over the past four years.”

Despite the criticism of Bevin’s pardons in cases involving violent crimes or those deemed as political in nature, the former governor was praised in some circles.

Kentucky Public Advocate Damon Preston, who was appointed by Bevin, said “many deserving people were helped by Governor Bevin’s pardons.”

In one executive order signed December 9, Bevin commuted the sentences for 336 inmates who are “solely serving” sentences for drug possession. A number of the pardons that Bevin issued are for drug-related convictions.

The-CNN-Wire

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