By Deborah Yetter
Kentucky Lantern
At a hearing Monday over Jonah Bevin’s effort to intervene in the divorce case of his adoptive parents, former Gov. Matt Bevin and his ex-wife Glenna, lawyers debated a flurry of motions that offer sharply different claims about Jonah’s care.
The recent filings even raise questions about Jonah’s age — whether he is 18, as he had believed, or just 17 — because of a conflict in records that recently came to light.
Matt Bevin, in a filing Friday, said Jonah’s claims of neglect, abandonment and abuse “are not grounded in fact or law and are, instead, intended to garner media attention and outrage.”
“The truth is entirely different and it is heartbreaking to Matt to see his son caught up in this web,” it said, adding that “Jonah is deeply loved by his entire family” and cites Matt Bevin’s “unshakable love and commitment for his son.”
Glenna Bevin, in a separate filing, said she is “very sad” about the contentious legal proceedings, adding “she loves her son Jonah and wants only the best for him.”
Both Matt and Glenna Bevin are subject to protective orders barring them from contact with Jonah, who sought the orders last month in Jefferson Family Court, alleging they attempted to send him on a hastily arranged trip to Ethiopia, supposedly to meet his birth mother, whom he believed was deceased.
Dawn J. Post, a child advocate and lawyer representing Jonah, said she has not been able to find any evidence Jonah’s birth mother is alive.
Jonah, in a filing Monday, restated his allegations he was abandoned by the Bevins in Jamaica after child welfare authorities closed the Atlantis Youth Academy for abuse and neglect, removing residents and leaving him for a time in the custody of the Jamaican child welfare system.
“Where is the love my parents said they had for me because they didn’t show it when they left and ignored me. Other parents came to get their kids,” he said in an affidavit. “My parents either lied or left out the truth over and over. Because of that I’ve been on my own. I’ve been trying to speak up because nobody else has done it for me.”
Jefferson Family Court Judge Angela Johnson Monday heard arguments over whether to permit Jonah to intervene in the Bevins’ divorce case in order to prevent them from reaching a confidential settlement. The Courier Journal also is objecting to keeping such a settlement private, saying court records generally are open to the public.
Jonah has asked to intervene in the case to protect his interests including any potential child support or educational benefits.
But Mark Dobbins, a lawyer for Glenna Bevin, argued Monday Kentucky law does not permit a child to intervene in a parent’s divorce case to seek support.
He acknowledged the case involves a “super sad situation,” but said what Jonah is seeking is not allowed under the law. Jesse Mudd, a lawyer for Matt Bevin, agreed, saying “there is no legal basis” for that claim.
However, John Helmers, a lawyer for Jonah, said the teen should be allowed to have a voice in the case.
“We ask that the court permit him to have that voice and the simple reason is that no one else is acting to his interests,” Helmers said.
As for keeping the Bevins’ proposed divorce settlement confidential, their lawyers argued that while the law requires the judge to review it, it does not require it be made public.
Helmers called that a “trust us” argument with no guarantee Jonah would be able to view it in time to protect his interests.
Michael Abate, a lawyer for the Courier Journal, said court records are presumed to be public in Kentucky absent a compelling reason. The fact that Matt Bevin, as governor, and Glenna Bevin, as first lady, made improving foster care and adoption a primary goal, heightens public interest in the outcome of the divorce case, he said.
“Now we’ve seen very serious allegations they failed to provide for one of their minor adopted children,” Abate said.
Mudd argued that Matt Bevin is no longer governor and the Bevins should be allowed to keep their divorce settlement, including financial information, private.
Abate replied that doesn’t apply in the case of Bevin, elected in 2015 as a one-term Republican governor.
“He’s a public figure for life,” Abate said.
The lawyers also debated over whether records about Jonah’s age are accurate.
Jonah has reported to the court his exact age is in dispute; recently obtained records show he may be only 17 instead of 18, as he previously believed.
“I feel that I am not real,” Jonah said in his affidavit. “No one knows my real age.”
A motion filed Friday by his lawyers says Jonah, who was one of four children adopted by the Bevins in 2012 from Ethiopia, said records the Bevins recently provided show conflicting birth dates.
One of the records the Bevins provided shows Jonah’s birth date as November 2006, which Jonah had thought was his true birth date, and the other, November 2007, the motion said.
Dobbins said only one of the multiple records provided to Jonah showed the birth date as 2007 and that appears to be in error.
But if Jonah is just 17, and still a minor, that could affect his pending case, Helmers said.
Prior to the recent filings, court records have said the Bevins’ five biological children are adults and that only one of the four adopted children is a minor.
It makes Jonah’s case for intervening in the Bevins’ divorce stronger since the court has a greater responsibility toward minor children, Helmers said.
Matt Bevin’s motion objecting to Jonah intervening in the divorce case dismissed the issue, saying that it was “undisputed” the teen turned 18 in November 2024 and therefore is “emancipated.”
He and Glenna Bevin both ask, in separate motions, that Jonah’s request to intervene as a party in their divorce case be denied.
Jonah, in his affidavit, disagrees, saying his alleged abuse, neglect and abandonment deserve consideration.
“The court can’t just let this go on like it didn’t happen,” it said. “I’m not just a name on paper. I’m a real person. What happened to me was real. Leaving me out of this case says it didn’t happen.”
Johnson, the judge, said she will try to rule as soon as possible, telling the lawyers: “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”
Deborah Yetter reports for the Kentucky Lantern, a member of States Newsrooom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. The story is reprinted here under Creative Commons license.