Local Man Indicted For Illegal Activities With Minor
Robert Moore
Herald Staff
rmoore@harrodsburgherald.com
A local man has been indicted for engaging in illegal activities with a minor.
Last week the Mercer County Grand Jury indicted Kobe Ford, 26, of 280 Carson Court, on three class B felony counts of 1st degree unlawful transaction with a minor, one class D felony count of 2nd degree unlawful transaction with a minor and five class D felony counts of unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor to engage in sexual or other prohibited activities.
KOBE FORD (Image: Boyle County Detention Center).
According to the indictment, Ford induced a female child less than 16 years of age to engage in illegal sexual activity between Sept. 30, 2017, and March 19, 2019; between Aug. 5, 2018, and Sept. 30, 2018; and Oct. 1, 2017, and March 19, 2019. Ford is also accused of inducing a minor child to engage in illegal controlled substances activity including marijuana between Aug. 5, 2018, and Sept. 30, 2018. He is also accused of texting a minor child for the purpose of engaging in sexual acts on five separate occasions: Aug. 19, 2022; Aug. 24, 2022; Sept. 3, 2022; Sept. 7, 2022; and Sept. 20, 2022. All the offenses occurred in Mercer County, according to the indictment.
According to a Facebook post by the Perryville Police Department, the investigation began in early 2023. Police claim to have found numerous alleged victims, many of them minors, with several under the age of 16. The suspected criminal acts spanned Mercer, Boyle, and Franklin Counties, according to the Perryville Police Department. The scope of the investigation dated back to 2017 through 2023.
The Perryville Police Department worked in conjunction with Boyle County Probation and Parole, Danville Police Department SROs, Boyle and Mercer County Commonwealth Attorney’s Offices, Franklin County Regional Jail, Boyle County Detention Center, and the Boyle and Mercer County Victim’s Advocates.
The investigation is still ongoing and additional charges in Boyle County as well as other counties are possible.
If you are or know an individual that has been a potential victim of Ford’s, please contact the Perryville Police Department or the Boyle/Mercer County Victim’s Advocates.
Ford’s bail was set at $50,000 with no contact with victims. Patrolman Nick Patton (Perryville Police Department) testified.
The grand jury handed up indictments last Thursday on charges including criminal possession of a forged instrument, wanton endangerment, identity theft and drug charges…
