The Gleaner
STURGIS, Ky. — A former Sturgis fire chief has been found guilty of child sexual abuse.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office said Phillip Edmondson, 58, of Sturgis, was found guilty by a jury Monday in Union County Circuit Court for first-degree sexual abuse (victim under 12).
Commonwealth’s Attorney Zac Greenwell told The Gleaner Tuesday that the charge stems from an incident on Jan. 11, 2014, that occurred at the Sturgis Youth Center.
“The facts at trial were that he was with his wife and nephew at the youth center” when the crime occurred, Greenwell said. The victim was not related to Edmondson, Greenwell added.
Edmondson faces a sentence between five and 10 years.
Greenwell said the jury has recommended six years and sentencing has been scheduled for Aug. 4.
“His bond was revoked and he will remain jailed until sentencing,” Greenwell said.
According to authorities, this is not Edmondson’s first conviction for crimes against children.
“He was convicted in Illinois,” said Union County Sheriff Mickey Arnold.
When Edmondson was charged last year in Union County, initially he faced an additional offense of failure to comply with sex offender registration, Arnold said.
The charge was dropped, Arnold said, due to a loophole that kept Edmondson from having to register in Kentucky.
But records obtained by The Gleaner from the circuit clerk’s office in Adams County, Illinois, reveal that in May 2006, Edmondson pleaded guilty to attempted indecent solicitation/aggravated sexual abuse of a child, a Class A misdemeanor, as well as a drug offense.
In June of 2006, according to court records, Edmondson was sentenced to 30 months probation and 120 days in jail for both crimes. “Probation may be transferred to Kentucky,” according to court records.
He completed probation in March of 2009, court records show.
Edmondson joined the Sturgis Fire Department in 1978. In 1993, he left to work as director of firefighting for Costain Coal, and returned to the Sturgis department in January of 2000 to serve as assistant chief. He became fire chief in November of 2000, but was fired from the position in 2001 after getting into a fight with then Mayor Dan Quirey.
The fight ended with the two men going through a plate-glass window in the mayor’s office and landing on a sidewalk, according to newspaper accounts from the time. Neither man suffered serious injury.
The Kentucky State Police investigated the incident. Both men accepted deferred prosecution of misdemeanor assault charges that they had filed against each other. Then in 2002, Edmondson sued to get his job back. Further information about the lawsuit was unavailable Tuesday.
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