Kentucky's Attorney General has upheld the Campbell County Police Department's refusal to release interview transcripts of juvenile witnesses in a 2018 sex crimes case, determining the agency did not violate the state's Open Records Act.

Charles Justice, who was convicted in the 2018 criminal case involving child victims, had requested access to the interviews. According to the Attorney General's decision issued July 15, the department properly withheld the records based on privacy protections for juvenile witnesses in cases involving "intensely personal crimes."

Justice argued the witnesses "are now 18" and therefore the juvenile confidentiality restrictions should no longer apply. The Attorney General rejected that logic, finding that juvenile privacy interests in sex crime cases do not automatically expire when victims reach adulthood.

"Just as juvenile offender records do not suddenly become open to the public when the offender turns 18, the privacy interests of juvenile witnesses regarding 'intensely personal crimes' do not disappear with the mere passage of time," the decision stated.

The Office of the Attorney General found that Kentucky law provides juvenile crime victims and witnesses with heightened privacy protections comparable to the absolute confidentiality afforded to juvenile offender records. The department's denial fell squarely within Kentucky's Open Records Act exemptions for records that would constitute a "clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

Justice has 30 days from the decision date to appeal to circuit court. The Attorney General noted it takes no position on whether Justice might obtain the records through discovery in any civil or criminal action to which he is a party.