CINCINNATI, Ohio — A Paintsville man who pleaded guilty to producing child pornography for secretly recording a teenage girl while she showered and changed is now appealing the sentence he received.

Henry Jonathan Ritscher, 44, pleaded guilty in federal court to producing child porn back in January. Last month, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

On Thursday, that appeal was filed in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.Under the terms of his plea agreement, Ritscher is barred from appealing his guilty plea or conviction, and he can only appeal his sentence.

During his sentencing, Ritscher had objected to elements of his pre-sentencing report, including enhancements for abusing a position of trust, obstruction and engaging in a pattern of criminal sexual activity. Any of those objections could have reduced his sentence if granted, but all were denied.

Ritscher is currently being held in the Grayson County Detention Center, in Leitchfield.

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LONDON, Ky. — Two Eastern Kentucky men have been indicted in federal court, after they were allegedly found with firearms, despite previous felony convictions.

Stanley Duty, 54, of Phelps, and Steven Lumpkins, 45, of Oil Springs, were each indicted on single counts of felon in possession of a firearm in separate, unrelated cases.

According to their indictments, Duty was found with four handguns and a rifle May 20, 2025, in Pike County, while Lumpkins was found with a handgun and a rifle May 29, 2025, in Floyd County.

If convicted, each man will face a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison. The indictments also seek forfeiture of all seized weapons.

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STAFFORDSVILLE, Ky. — A Morgan County man was killed Friday evening, when he came into contact with power lines in Johnson County

Oil Springs Fire and Rescue was called out to the accident at Foothills Communications at Staffordsville just after 6:30 Friday evening.

48-year-old Jonathan Marvin Brown, of Ezel, had been pressure washing a building from a lift basket more than 30 feet in the air, when he came into contact with power lines.

After cutting off power from the lines, Brown was removed and pronounced dead at the scene.

Brown owned a pool company and pressure washing business, was a former Morgan County magistrate, and was a sports announcer for Morgan County High School Sports on WLKS.

He leaves behind a wife and four children.

The incident remains under investigation by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the Johnson County Coroner’s Office and Oil Springs Fire and Rescue.

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FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky Frontier Gas is asking the Kentucky Public Service Commission to reconsider a recent rate decision, arguing the approved rate structure could create major cash flow problems for the utility.

In a motion for rehearing filed with the PSC, Kentucky Frontier says the commission’s April order did not raise monthly customer charges enough to cover the company’s fixed operating costs.

The utility had requested a monthly customer charge of $25, similar to rates charged by larger Kentucky gas companies, but the commission approved a charge of about $17.63 per month. Kentucky Frontier argues that amount would only cover about one-third of its summer operating expenses, when gas usage drops sharply.

The company says it could be forced to borrow at least $300,000 just to make it through the summer months because most of its approved rate increase was tied to gas usage rather than fixed monthly charges. The utility also cited unusually high natural gas costs during this past winter’s cold weather, saying those expenses prevented the company from building up cash reserves needed for lower-usage summer months.

Kentucky Frontier serves about 4,700 customers across several Eastern Kentucky counties, including Pike, Floyd, Johnson, Letcher and Perry counties.

In its original order, the PSC approved a lower overall revenue increase than the utility requested and raised concerns about some of the company’s expenses and affiliate business relationships.

Kentucky Frontier is now asking the commission to raise the monthly customer charge to at least $22.50, or alternatively to approve a revised rate structure aimed at improving year-round cash flow.

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ASHLAND, Ky. — A Paintsville man who admitted to secretly recording an underage guest while she showered and changed was ordered to serve 25 years in prison during his sentencing hearing on Friday.

Henry Jonathan Ritscher, 44, pleaded guilty in January to a federal charge of producing child pornography. In doing so, he admitted to recording the girl, who was a distant relative of his wife’s who would occasionally come to visit.

The crime was discovered when the girl accompanied Ritscher to pick up pizza on Sept. 6. While Ritcher went inside to get the food, the girl stayed in the car and used his phone while waiting. It was on that phone that she discovered a video of herself.

Following an investigation by Paintsville Police, Ritscher made a full confession to police, saying he had been recording the girl, who was 15 at that time, for about a year-and-a-half.

Character letters written by Ritscher’s sisters say the hidden cameras had originally been installed so he could keep an eye on his wife and autistic son while he was away from home working as a truck driver.

In addition to his sentence, he must participate in a sex offender treatment program while in prison and will be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years after his release.

Ritscher was taken into custody immediately after Friday’s hearing.

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PAINTSVILLE, Ky. — What began as an investigation into the theft of bicycles resulted in a Paintsville sex offender being arrested for failing to maintain his registration requirements.

Paintsville Police were called Sunday to a home on Second Street over a report that two bicycles had been stolen the previous evening. The homeowner was able to provide footage allegedly showing Jessie Lee Ward, 48, walking into the back yard and taking two bicycles worth a combined $500.

Police located Ward at his workplace and cited him for misdemeanor theft. He was able to return one of the bicycles at that time. He said another person had the other bike, but he would retrieve it and take it back to the owners.

Afterwards, police decided to check into sex offender status, because two young girls lived at the home where the theft occurred. They learned that Ward was not compliant with his registration requirements, after he pleaded guilty to second-degree rape of a 12-year-old in 2006. He received a 10-year sentence in that case.

Ward was found riding a bicycle on Sixth Street later that day and arrested him for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements. He reportedly told police that he realized he had fallen out of compliance, but said he had mailed in paperwork to correct the issue.

Because he has previously been arrested for the same charge, Ward now faces 5-to-10 years in prison if he is convicted.

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STAFFORDSVILLE, Ky. — Two Magoffin County residents were arrested Sunday in connection with a Johnson County home burglary.

Sheriff’s deputies Adam Stanley and Christian Horn were dispatched to a home on Tackett Branch, at Staffordsville, over a report of a burglary in progress. When they arrived, they found the property owner escorting Adam Allen Caldwell, 45, and Tonya Lynn Rowe, 48, both of Salyersville, down the driveway.

The owner told deputies that Caldwell and Rowe had entered his house and stole several thousand dollars’ worth of items, loading them in their pickup truck. He also said he had video of the crime.

In the bed of the truck, deputies found TVs, a heater, luggage, a chainsaw, two new kitchen faucets still in their boxes, a car stereo, a lawn mower, vehicle batteries and more.

Caldwell and Rowe were arrested and charged with second-degree burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and trespassing. They are being held in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center on $5,000 cash bonds.

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Hager Hill Athletic Complex to develop soccer fields, tennis and pickle ball courts, and more.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. — A former Paintsville doctor has been sentenced to one year and one day in prison, after he pleaded guilty to a federal drug conspiracy charge.

Don Bryson pleaded guilty in June 2024 to one count of conspiracy to distribute Schedule II controlled substances.

Bryson was previously a doctor, but surrendered his medical license following an investigation into his prescribing of controlled substances. Afterwards, he began working as a “medical consultant” at Appalachian Family Medicine, a clinic owned by his son, Jeremy Bryson.

With his guilty plea, Don Bryson admitted that even though the clinic would bring in doctors to see patients, he and his son maintained control of the practice, restricting the use of urine tests or pill counts and discouraging the doctors from reducing the patient dosages. They also allowed a doctor who didn’t have a DEA registration number required to prescribe controlled substances to illegally use the registration number of another doctor.

Over a four-day period, the doctor wrote 79 prescriptions for more than 6,900 pills using the previous doctor’s registration number, until the temp agency discovered what was happening.

Don Bryson’s sentence of one year and one day is far less than the maximum 20 years he could have received. He has also agreed to forfeit more than $124,000 seized from the clinic’s bank accounts, as well as the clinic building and a 2020 Dodge Ram truck purchased with clinic proceeds.

Don Bryson currently remains free. He has been ordered to self-report to prison July 14.

Jeremy Bryson was later charged in connection with the clinic. In March, a jury found him guilty of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to use the DEA registration of another, monetary transaction derived from unlawful activity and six counts of distributing controlled substances, following an eight-day trial in Frankfort. He is scheduled to be sentenced June 2.

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PAINTSVILLE, Ky. – The Kentucky State Police Critical Incident Response Team has been requested by Post 9 Pikeville to investigate an officer-involved shooting that occurred around 2 a.m. Sunday, in Johnson County.

The preliminary investigation indicates that an officer from the Paintsville Police Department was conducting a foot patrol when he observed a parked motorcycle on Main Street matching the description of one reported stolen earlier. A short time later, the officer encountered Shawn Gayheart, 37, of Salyersville. Gayheart fled on foot for a short distance before the officer caught up with him, at which point a physical altercation ensued.  

A second PPD officer arrived on scene to assist and both officers deployed their tasers to attempt to gain control of Gayheart, but were unsuccessful. The officers then discharged their agency-issued firearms striking the suspect. 

Officers immediately rendered medical aid until EMS arrived. Gayheart was transported to the Pikeville Medical Center, where he remains in stable condition. 

Officers found a knife and firearm at the scene. The investigation remains ongoing. 

KSP has statewide jurisdiction and investigates officer-involved shootings throughout the commonwealth as requested by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

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