ATHENS, Ohio — A corruption scandal that has already toppled the head of Athens County’s Department of Job and Family Services has now reached the county’s highest elected body, as Commissioner Charlie Adkins faces a felony indictment accusing him of working to identify and silence the county employee who first raised the alarm about the alleged misuse of more than a million dollars in public money.
Adkins, a Democrat serving his fourth term on the Athens County Board of Commissioners, was indicted on one count of felony intimidation in connection with the sprawling case surrounding Jean Demosky, the recently removed executive director of Athens County Job and Family Services. Demosky herself now faces eight felony counts, including theft in office.
Court filings from Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn allege that when an anonymous letter landed on the desks of county commissioners last September, raising serious concerns about how public money was being managed at JFS, Adkins and Demosky allegedly responded not by investigating the concerns, but by trying to hunt down whoever wrote it. The two allegedly subjected JFS staff to interrogations and, at one point, threatened to use handwriting analysis to unmask the author.
The person behind that letter, officials say, had helped oversee the Athens County Department of Job and Family Services Community Cares Fund — the nonprofit at the heart of the alleged scheme. The whistleblower’s decision to come forward set the entire investigation in motion.
Despite the indictment, Adkins is expected to remain on the job as county commissioner while the criminal process plays out.
The broader case centers on allegations that Demosky ran a nonprofit organization simultaneously with her role as the county’s top JFS official — blurring the lines between public service and private gain in ways prosecutors say cost taxpayers dearly. The nonprofit allegedly tapped into federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families money intended for low-income residents, spending it instead on community events that served people who did not qualify for those funds. Prosecutors also allege a Columbus restaurant contract was structured in a way that steered a percentage-based fee away from the county and into the nonprofit’s accounts.
Blackburn’s office says the total cost of county employees performing work on behalf of the nonprofit tops one million dollars. The nonprofit’s unpaid balance to the state of Ohio exceeds $50,000.
The Athens County Board of Commissioners voted to remove Demosky from her position earlier this week. Blackburn has asked that a special prosecutor be appointed to handle the case going forward, and investigators say the probe is ongoing with the possibility of further charges.
Adkins and Demosky are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.