Ex-Gov. Matt Bevin grills adopted son about a pet dog in hearing on protective order

by Deborah Yetter, Kentucky Lantern
March 21, 2025

LOUISVILLE — An unusual bit of courtroom drama unfolded Friday when former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin — acting as his own attorney — grilled his adopted son, Jonah, about an emergency protective order the son is seeking to keep in place against Bevin.

Jonah, 18, adopted at age 5 from Ethiopia, alleges he experienced abuse and neglect in the Bevin home, culminating in his abandonment at a brutally abusive youth facility last year in Jamaica while he was 17. Jonah is seeking an extension of the temporary protective order he obtained March 7 against Matt Bevin, saying he fears him and wants no contact with him.

Matt Bevin, seated beside his ex-wife, Glenna, at a table next to Jonah’s, spent about 30 minutes questioning him about a three-page statement Jonah provided in support of his request for an EPO — at one point challenging his claim that Matt Bevin had threatened to euthanize Jonah’s pet dog if the youth failed to follow his directives.

In a series of questions, the one-term Republican governor, seated with a stack of documents before him, demanded to know who paid for the dog, bought dog food and purchased its dog bed.

“You paid,” Jonah replied, but “I had to pay you back for everything.”

Friday’s hearing was continued until Tuesday by Family Court Judge Angela Johnson after parties said they would need more time to present witnesses. The couple’s divorce became final March 18.

Glenna Bevin, who is not subject to the EPO, appeared alongside her lawyer, Steve Romines, a prominent Louisville defense lawyer

In addition to seeking the protective order, Jonah Bevin has filed a report with Louisville Metro Police, alleging he was abandoned in Jamaica at age 17 by the Bevins, a Class D felony in Kentucky.

She sat quietly, hands folded in her lap, while her lawyer handled questions on her behalf. Romines spent most of his time apparently seeking to distance Glenna Bevin from allegations involving her ex-husband and show that she had attempted to get help for Jonah’s emotional problems and learning disabilities.

Neither Bevin has commented on Jonah’s allegations, first reported in the Kentucky Lantern Feb. 28.

After the 90-minute hearing ended Friday, Matt Bevin twice ignored a reporter asking if he had any comment on the proceedings, walking by without reply. Glenna Bevin’s lawyers said they would have no comment until the hearing is concluded.

Jonah also left without commenting.

Dawn J. Post, a New York lawyer and child advocate also representing Jonah, said the experience of having to testify about his ordeal — especially under questioning from Matt Bevin, who he has accused of abuse — was “emotionally retraumatizing.”

She called Bevin’s decision to represent himself, and thus directly question his son, “unexpected.”

“That certainly can feel like another form of abuse,” Post said, referring to the questions by his father.

Jonah, sitting beside his lawyer, John Helmers Jr., spoke softly, at times, almost inaudibly during the hearing, at one point prompting Family Court Judge Angela Johnson to ask him to speak louder.

During Matt Bevin’s questioning, Helmers twice asked the judge to direct him from interrupting Jonah while he was attempting to answer, which she did.

Jonah was asked by the judge to verify the statement he provided in support of the EPO was truthful after Johnson read it into the court record.

“Yes ma’am,” he replied.

The statement alleged a threat by Matt Bevin that “I can take your life” and “I can make your life miserable.”

It also included allegations Glenna Bevin slapped and struck him and the Bevins recently tried to “coerce” him into a trip to Ethiopia to meet his biological mother, whom they previously had told him was deceased.

“I now believe they were trying to get me to disappear,” his statement said.

The judge also asked if had any contact with the Bevins during the several months he was held at the Atlantis Leadership Academy — which he said involved brutal beatings and punishment that amounted to torture — before Jamaican child welfare authorities shut it down for suspected abuse and neglect.

“I didn’t have any contact with them,” he said, adding youths were not permitted to make phone calls to families.

“Did they call you?” Johnson asked.

“No ma’am,” he replied.

Jonah also said he had no help from the Bevins after he was removed from the Jamaican facility and eventually returned to the United States, he believes with the help of the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica, which was involved in the case.

Under questioning from Romines, Jonah detailed a troubled life he acknowledged involved being kicked out of several schools, running away, altercations with the Bevins and other problems. He has said he was sent to the first of a series of out of state facilities by the Bevins at age 13.

He also said he was sexually assaulted at age 10 by someone connected to the Bevin family and said Glenna Bevin had obtained counseling for him.

The case will be back in court April 1 with the Bevins planning to present witnesses expected to include some of their adult children. They have four children adopted from Ethiopia, including Jonah and five biological children, all but one is over 18.

Helmers, Jonah’s lawyer, declined to predict the outcome but said this: “We’re just confident the judge is going to do the right thing.”

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.

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