More details have been uncovered in the case against former Owensboro Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Matthew Constant. From the relationship that sparked the investigation, to why he was allowed to participate in graduation ceremonies, to his arraignment being postponed due to multiple judges recusing themselves, here’s everything to know so far.
Constant, 51, of the 2600 block of Central Park Court, was arrested at his ex-wife’s home at 4:34 p.m. on July 27, according to court documents.
Constant is currently charged with two Class D felonies: procuring or promoting the use of a minor (12 years old or older), and tampering with physical evidence. KSP said in a release the investigation is still in the early phases and has spanned into other states, and that additional charges are likely.
Constant was initially scheduled to be arraigned July 28 by Daviess District Court Judge Shannon Meyer. While he did appear virtually from the Daviess County Detention Center, his arraignment was rescheduled due to Meyer recusing herself from the case.
“Mr. Constant was a strong supporter of mine in my recent campaign, and his former spouse lives [a few doors down] from me, and certainly, there will be the appearance of my ability to remain impartial and unbiased in this case,” Meyer said.
Meyer also noted that Chief District Judge Misty Miller, Division 3 District Court Judge David Payne, and Circuit Judges Lisa Jones and Jay Wethington all similarly recused themselves due to personal relationships with Constant.
Meyer reset Constant’s arraignment for August 2 under Miller, who has already begun paperwork for a Special Judge to preside over the case. Miller agreed to address Constant’s bond in her court on August 2, at which point Special Judge may also be ready to take over the case.
“Who knows, we might have a Special Judge in place by that time, but if not, I certainly will [preside over the arraignment],” Miller said.
Constant’s bond remains at $35,000 full cash. His conditions include no contact with any minor children, no use of alcohol or drugs, and no new arrests or violation of law.
The Kentucky State Police began an initial investigation into Constant in May based on an allegation by a third party, according to KSP Public Affairs Officer Corey King.
King said the complainant alleged that Constant was involved in a relationship with an underage minor.
Speaking on July 28, King said the other party involved in the alleged relationship had not been very cooperative so trying to establish that person’s age “has been somewhat difficult,” adding “it appears that the relationship was with an 18-year-old, but we have not established when the relationship began.”
However, King said during the course of that investigation, “other things have come to light.”
“We’re having to use technology means like communication devices and things like that to try to establish that (person’s age),” King said. “The way of doing that was these subpoenas and phone dumps, and now we’ve discovered data has been deleted. Now we’re having to go backwards to try to decode a lot of things.”
According to the citation made available July 28, Constant “admitted to tampering with physical evidence during an interview, and attempted to procure and solicit sexual acts from minors, having full knowledge he was speaking with juvenile children.” It said Constant “used multiple accounts from electronic devices to execute these acts.”
King said it appears Constant “had master cleared his mobile devices, essentially erasing everything. So we’re working to restore everything we can, which is time consuming. Pair that with social media apps, the various platforms, to get records they have, it just takes time.”
He said that’s why it took two months before an arrest was made.
“But so far what detectives are saying is that it is evident that he was communicating with minors,” King said. He added at this point KSP hasn’t established an age for the victims, but it’s “somewhere around 12 to 16 or so.”
King said he doesn’t know how many children are potentially involved at this point.
“They’re still synthesizing the data and decoding what they can, so I’m not sure what that number would be. The detective had mentioned that it obviously has morphed into a little bit larger case and what we first thought,” King said.
He added that there are no additional suspects at this time.
He also said he doesn’t know how many images or videos have been found at this point, or if Constant was asking for the images/videos to be sent or made.
King said based on what he knows, Constant was “communicating with the minors regarding sexual acts. I don’t know the extent of the conversation. It very well could be [asking for photos or videos], or it could be asking to meet up.”
Asked if the timing of Constant’s arrest was due to simply finally having enough evidence, worry about a flight risk, or other factors, King said they were all likely contributors.
“It could be all of the above. Once we start discovering there’s some concern here, it’s best to go ahead and get it addressed now so no other potential issues that come up while we are privy to the information that’s already at hand,” King said.
OPS Board of Education Chair Dr. Jeremy Luckett and Vice Chair Leigh Rhoads Doyal were made aware of some sort of KSP investigation into Constant on May 22 but they did not know many details, according to OPS Public Information Officer Jared Revlett.
Constant participated in the graduation ceremonies for Emerson Academy and Owensboro High School on May 24.
“The board chair and vice chair found out that the Kentucky State Police were looking into (Constant) for something on that Monday,” Reveltt said. “They didn’t know what, they just knew that he was under investigation for something. They didn’t find out anything specific related to the subject of the investigation until Thursday morning, so the morning after the OHS graduation.”
Asked about the perception the public might have regarding the decision for Constant to still participate in the graduation ceremonies, Luckett provided the following statement on July 28:
“Based on the information we had from KSP on Monday, we didn’t have a reason to withhold him from graduation. It wasn’t until Dr. Constant met with KSP Thursday morning that we were given information that led to his immediate suspension from the district. As the investigation continued, more information came to light and the board made the decision to terminate his contract. Throughout the process, we cooperated with KSP and believe we made the correct decisions based on the information we had at the time.”
King similarly said based on the limited information available at the time, there was not a reason for Constant to be barred from the ceremonies. King said KSP has to be cautious in the early stages of an investigation because there are occasionally false allegations, and “at that point that’s all it was, was allegations.”
“At the time, and even now, he wasn’t charged (with having a relationship with a student). … There was no imminent danger at that point or no concern,” King said. “Him having a relationship with somebody over the age of 18 wouldn’t be really much of anyone’s business. That was when we were looking into the matter, but we did not know at that point whether it would be criminal or not.”
On May 25, KSP informed the board the investigation had ramped up. The board suspended Constant with pay that day, though they still didn’t know the full nature of the investigation and whether they would ultimately be criminal charges.
On June 22, the OPS board voted unanimously to suspend Constant without pay and begin the proceedings to terminate his contract “for conduct unbecoming of a superintendent.” While criminal charges had still not been filed at that time, the board said they had been informed by police that Constant “did engage in a relationship with an adult-aged student enrolled in another school district.”
Revlett said the board later was made aware KSP was pursuing criminal charges.
“We knew that charges were going to come at some point well after the board had made the move to terminate him. We just didn’t know when,” he said.
While the board began the termination process, Constant actually retired and terminated his employment a week later.
According to a letter sent from Kentucky Commissioner of Education Jason Glass to Luckett:
On June 30, 2023, R. Michael Sullivan, attorney for Dr. Constant, notified the Kentucky Department of Education via email of Dr. Constant’s notice of retirement and termination of Employment Agreement dated April 23, 2020, both effective July 1, 2023. Since Dr. Constant has retired and terminated his Employment Agreement, the request from the Owensboro Independent Board of Education to remove Dr. Constant is moot.
Constant was nearing the end of the third year in his four-year contract. He started out making $149,000 per year, but after increases over the last two years was currently making $164,857 per year.
Robert B. Barnes, Deputy Executive Secretary and General Counsel for the Kentucky Teachers’ Retirement System, said he could not answer questions specifically about Constant’s retirement benefit eligibility.
However, he said in an email that “individuals who become members of TRS on or after August 1, 2000, and who are convicted of a felony related to their employment forfeit TRS retirement benefits and are entitled only to a refund of their member contributions and interest posted to their account.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney Bruce Kuegel was unable to provide comment on the case.
“This is an ongoing investigation by the state police. We don’t comment on open investigations, especially this type,” he said. “The ethics rules for prosecutors are very, very clear.”
Kuegel cited Kentucky Rules of the Supreme Court 3.130 (3.8) (e), which states that a prosecutor in a criminal case shall “refrain, except for statements that are necessary to inform the public of the nature and extent of the prosecutor’s action and that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose, from making extrajudicial comments that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused.”
“If it’s a pending case, we don’t want to do anything to interfere or cause any problems with the investigation by the police officer,” Kuegel said. “So we just don’t comment on pending cases. We’re not trying to hide anything or not inform the public. We’re just bound by that ethical rule, and we adhere to it.”
