NKyTribune staff
The Kentucky Senate Democratic Caucus has voted to remove Sen. Julian Carroll (D-Frankfort) from his position as minority whip. The Caucus has also called on Carroll, a former governor, to resign, following reports that he propositioned a man for sex in 2005.
Members of the Senate Democratic Caucus issued the following statement Sunday:
“In light of recent media reports, the Senate Democratic Caucus has voted to remove Senator Carroll from his leadership position as minority whip. The Senate Democratic Caucus calls on Senator Carroll to resign his Kentucky State Senate seat, immediately.”
According to a report by Spectrum News Pure Politics Saturday, Carroll told a then-30-year-old Jason Geis he would help him get into art school. Spectrum reported that when Geis met with Carroll to discuss the matter, the senator propositioned him for sex and groped him.
Carroll, 86, could not be reached for comment. He serves Senate District 7, which includes parts of Anderson, Franklin, Gallatin, Owen and Woodford counties.
Spectrum also obtained an audio recording, believed to be from the meeting, which it aired Saturday. On the tape, a man identified as Carroll, asked Geis to masturbate him and later, to perform oral sex on him.
Geis can be heard repeatedly on the tape sobbing and declining the requests.
Geis also said in an interview with Spectrum that Carroll groped him. Carroll was married at the time and has four children.
Spectrum obtained a copy of the Kentucky State Police investigation, and a letter from then-Lincoln County Attorney John Hackley, dated April 18, 2005, indicating he did not believe there were grounds to prosecute Carroll.
“I see no violation of any Kentucky Criminal Statute in an instance where one party approaches another and requests sexual activity and nothing more,” Hackley’s letter stated.
Carroll served as governor of Kentucky from 1974 to 1979.
In 1971, he was elected Lieutenant Governor and succeeded then-Governor Wendell Ford in 1974, when the latter was elected to the U.S. Senate. Carroll was elected governor in 1975 and served until 1979.
He was elected to a first term in the Kentucky Senate in 2004 and was subsequently reelected every four years, including most recently 2016, when he ran unopposed.
