Another Ad Attacking Beshear’s Pandemic Commutations in Kentucky Distorts Facts

In its latest TV ad attacking Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, the conservative super PAC School Freedom Fund falsely claims that Beshear’s decision to release some prisoners early during the COVID-19 pandemic allowed a man convicted of sodomizing a child to “roam free.”

Although the TV ad, which began airing on Sept. 12, claims Beshear “released” James Hamlin “back into the community within a year,” Hamlin was never released, and he is currently serving a 25-year sentence in prison.

“James Hamlin sodomized a young child, only 6 years old,” the narrator in the ad says. “He was arrested and thrown behind bars where he belongs. Until Andy Beshear turned him loose. Released back into the community within a year. What Kentucky child is safe when their governor lets monsters like Hamlin roam free? When Beshear puts deviant predators before innocent kids? It’s not just wrong, it’s unforgivable.”