On the same day that Richard A Green, the Executive Editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader asked readers and subscribers to donate extra money to the newspaper, the newspaper told us about an important story from Floyd County, but chose to leave out some rather significant information.

Former Floyd County administrator pleads guilty to sexual contact involving students

by Beth Musgrave | Thursday, November 30, 2023 | 4:42 PM EST

April Bradford. Photo via Kentucky Today.

A former Floyd County teacher, administrator and coach plead guilty Thursday to multiple charges involving sexual contact with students from 1997 to 2007.

April Bradford, 51, of Weeksbury, plead guilty to eight counts of sodomy third degree and 11 counts of sexual abuse first degree.

Bradford admitted she sexually abused two students while she was a teacher and coach during the students’ middle and high school years.

Bradford will serve three and a half years in prison, according to Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office, which prosecuted the case against Bradford.

Now, what information did the Herald-Leader omit? The most obvious is that the photo of Miss Bradford was not in the online edition, even though it was readily available through several sources.

According to the Floyd County Chronicle, Miss Bradford was indicted on

• KRS §530.064 First-degree unlawful transaction with a minor (class B felony), 11 counts. Under subsection (2)(b), this offense is a Class B felony if the victim is less than 16 years old;
• KRS §510.080 Second-degree sodomy (class C felony), one count. Under subsection (1), second-degree sodomy is defined as deviate sexual intercourse with a victim who is under 14 years old, or is incapable of consent due to mental deficiency or incapacitation; and
• KRS §510.090 Third-degree sodomy (class D felony), seven counts. Under subsection (1)(d) this is deviate sexual intercourse with a person under 18 over whom the perpetrator holds a position of authority.

“There was clearly some heavy-duty plea bargaining which has occurred, because under KRS §532.060, the minimum sentence for a Class B felony is not less than ten years, and for a Class C felony, not less than five years. According to WYMT, Miss Bradford pleaded guilty to eight counts of third-degree sodomy and 11 counts of first-degree sexual abuse. Under KRS §510.110, First degree sexual abuse is a Class D felony, the sentence for which is not less than one year, nor more than five years. Miss Bradford received a medium sentence for Class D felonies, and was not convicted of the Class C or B felonies.

The Herald-Leader didn’t tell us that, either.

Reading the stories in the Lexington newspaper, one thing was very clear: they were written to conceal the sexes of her victims. Normally, when that happens, I suspect that the abuse was homosexual in nature. And yup, according to the WYMT story, victims Jessica Hensley and Mary Prater, chose to come forward publicly, and made their statements. They both wanted to ensure that Miss Bradford served all of her sentence in prison, and not under any sort of monitored home incarceration.

So, to Executive Editor Green, I have to ask the obvious question: why, with a reporter assigned to write the story, did the newspaper conceal information and the convicted criminal’s photo, when these things were easily available? It took me less than an hour, after reading the H-L’s story, to do the research, find out the additional information I posted here. What reason do I have to donate above my already too-expensive subscription when the newspaper isn’t doing more with the easily available information they have?