Kentucky trooper wants job back because raping that girl was just a 'moral mistake'

A Kentucky state trooper told a trial board last month that he would like to have his job back after he was fired for having sex with a 15-year-old girl, calling the relationship a "moral mistake."

In a transcript obtained by WDRB, former Kentucky State Trooper Jerry Clanton asserted to the Kentucky State Police Trial Board that he was under the false impression that the 15-year-old girl was 18 years old when he started having sex with her.

"I made a moral mistake. And, I've gotten right with my family," the married former trooper insisted. "I recognize that it is an embarrassment to the State Police. But I have not compromised myself in the fact that, in my mind, all I was doing was making a moral mistake."

"I would never have gone over there. I would have never spoken to her, never texted her, never anything had I thought she was anything but 18."

KSP Commander of Legal Services Capt. Matt Feltner, however, felt that the incident was more serious.

"You can't put a 15-year-old girl in a car, drive her up in the middle of nowhere and have sex with her," Feltner said. "I mean that doesn't have to be written out somewhere to know it's completely wrong and outside the lines."

During the hearing, Clanton explained that State Trooper Stratford Young had sex with the girl first, which he said resulted in his inappropriate relationship.

Clanton admitted to having sex with the girl on at least four separate occasions, once on the trunk of his police cruiser while it was pulled over on the side of the road.

"I didn't intend on having sex with her," he said.

In the end, the trial board declined to give Clanton his job back.

Investigators believe that a Brandenburg officer and a Breckinridge County Sheriff's deputy also had sex with the girl.

None of the four men had been charged as of Wednesday. According to WDRB, the girl is angry that no one is in jail. Her father has also called on prosecutors to take action, but it would be up to a grand jury to decide if anyone will be charged.

Watch the video below from WDRB, broadcast Feb. 13, 2013.

WDRB 41 Louisville News