OWENSBORO, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Tennessee man and now-former member of country musician Chase Matthew's band is facing charges of sodomy and incest in connection to the sexual assault of an autistic child in Clark County, court documents reveal.
According to an arrest warrant, the victim's mother reported to Winchester Police in November 2025 that her son had been abused by 22-year-old Carsen Richards. The victim later confirmed the abuse to WPD during a December 2025 interview, stating that Richards allegedly assaulted him in 2020 and 2022, when he would have been ages 12 and 14.
The victim's mother later confronted Richards at his Tennessee apartment on February 2026.
"During the confrontation, Carsen Richards stated, 'There is nothing more I have regretted in my life," "I made an awful mistake," the arrest warrant states.
Carsen was arrested on Saturday following the BBQ and Barrels festival in Owensboro, where he was performing as part of Matthew's band.
According to Owensboro Police, Richards was known to carry firearms and was frequently armed, and having been notified that he would be performing at the event on May 9, the department's "Criminal Investigation’s Division began developing an operations plan to take Richards into custody in the event he was not arrested by another agency prior to his arrival in Owensboro."
Richards was taken into custody just before 10 p.m. after he exited the stage and before reaching a tour bus.
Chase Matthew released a statement on his social media following Richards' arrest.
"When I first heard the allegations, I was sick to my stomach. I would never associate myself with a person I think could even be remotely capable of something like this, much less hire them to be on my team." Matthew said in part.
Matthew confirmed that Richards is no longer a member of his band or associated with him and his team.
Richards is booked in the Daviess County Detention Center on two counts of second degree sodomy and two counts of incest of a person under the age of 18 by a person three or more years older.
