ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (AP) — A former Democratic state House candidate has been found guilty of failing to report child abuse in a case involving students at an education program run by the Kentucky National Guard.
Multiple media outlets report that 65-year-old John Wayne Smith of Smiths Grove was convicted by a jury on Friday and faces up to one year in prison.
Smith was the director of Bluegrass Challenge Academy at Fort Knox, where prosecutors said he didn’t report knowledge that a staff member, Stephen Miller, inappropriately touched female students. Miller is serving a four-year prison sentence related to four separate incidents at the academy.
Smith ran and lost a race in 2014 against incumbent Republican Rep. Michael Meredith in House District 19, which includes portions of Edmonson and Warren counties.