By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Kentucky State Police at the Campbellsburg Post have charged a Boone County man with more than two dozen counts stemming from a child sexual abuse investigation.
On Sept. 26, a KSP detective from the Campbellsburg Post responded to General Butler State Park in Carrollton to investigate a report of sexual abuse of a child. It was reported that the suspect had engaged in inappropriate physical contact on multiple occasions.
The detective found there were at least two juvenile victims, a 14-year-old and an 11-year-old. State Police also discovered that the suspect had allegedly committed the crime in several locations, including in Carroll and Boone counties, over a period of approximately four years dating back to 2017. That made one of the victims approximately eight years old at the time the alleged abuse started.
After further investigation, arrest warrants were issued, and on October 5, Gentry Dowell, 64, of Burlington, was taken into custody in Boone County. He initially was charged in Carroll County with 1 count of sex abuse first-degree victim under 12, as well as one count of sex abuse first degree. He was also charged in Boone County with 10 counts of sex abuse first-degree victim under 12.
The following day, Dowell was charged with 15 additional counts in Boone County, including 10 counts of rape in the first-degree victim under 12 years old and five counts of Sodomy in the first-degree victim under 12. He has been lodged at the Carroll County Detention Center and is currently being held on $25,000 cash bond.
Other charges may be pending as the investigation continues.
