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Laurel County legislators face other side of the law in separate incidents
A state legislator, who ran for governor in 2019, was arrested Tuesday morning in Laurel County for allegedly strangling a woman and threatening to kill her.
Laurel County Sheriff’s deputies arrested Robert S. Goforth, 44, of East Bernstadt, following an investigation into a complaint by the victim whom deputies discovered had visible marks on her neck and leg.
Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, the department’s public affairs officer, stated that deputies were dispatched to the East Bernstadt community, north of London, after a female subject arrived at Laurel County 911 to report a domestic assault.
The woman told dispatchers the perpetrator was still inside the residence with three small children.
Deputies responded to the residence to conduct a welfare check on the children and continue the investigation.
“The children were found to be safe,” Acciardo stated.
As a result of the investigation, deputies arrested Goforth on charges of first-degree strangulation, fourth degree assault – domestic violence – minor injury, and third–degree terroristic threatening.
Gorforth was lodged in the Laurel County Correctional Center where he is being held on a $25,000 cash bond. He is scheduled for video arraignment at 9 a.m. today in Laurel District Court.
Goforth serves in the Kentucky House of Representatives. He represents the 89th district, which is made up of Jackson and portions of Laurel and Madison counties. He was first elected to the seat in 2018.
In 2019, he challenged Gov. Matt Bevin in the Republican gubernatorial primary.
Goforth’s arrest marks the second local legislator to be arrested in Laurel County within the last week.
Last Thursday, Derek Joel Lewis, 33, of London, who serves in the Kentucky House of Representatives as the 90th district representatives, was charged with DUI.
According to Acciardo, about 1:55 a.m., deputies were enroute to a complaint call when they came across a green Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck against a fence down in a ditch on Hatcher Road, off of Ky. 472.
When deputies checked on the driver, later identified as Lewis, they detected the odor of alcohol emitting from his person.
Lewis was charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and lodged in the Laurel County Correctional Center.
He was released later that morning on his own recognizance.
Lewis represents Clay, Leslie and a portion of Laurel County. He was elected to the seat in 2018.
