Ex-Covington Catholic athlete convicted of rape, sexual abuse denied probation
Former Covington Catholic High School basketball player and student Joseph Eubank, who pleaded guilty in early 2020 to rape and three counts of sexual abuse, has been denied probation, court records show.
Eubank was 17 years old when he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for incidents involving four teenage girls between February 2017 and March 2019. He was 14 to 16 when the incidents occurred.
Kenton County Circuit Judge Kate Molloy ruled Wednesday that Eubank must serve the remainder of his sentence in an adult prison once he turns 21 years old on Sept. 30.
While the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice made the decision in mid-2020 to send Eubank to an adult facility after his 18th birthday, he filed suit in Franklin County Circuit Court against the state seeking to block that transfer, court records show.
The court sided with Eubank and juvenile justice officials then decided to keep Eubank at the Northern Kentucky Youth Development Center until he reached 21 years old, the judge wrote in her decision.
"We strongly disagree with the court’s decision and will likely appeal," Kenyon Meyer, one of Eubank's lawyers, said in a statement to The Enquirer.
Eubank's lawyers filed a motion earlier this month requesting the court give him probation in lieu of serving the remainder of his sentence in prison.
They argued in part that Eubank isn’t likely to reoffend; that the seriousness of his offenses doesn’t disqualify him from probation and that Eubank would be better suited to probation and community-based treatment versus incarceration.
His lawyers noted that Eubank earned his associate’s degree while in juvenile detention, along with numerous professional certifications, and is working toward a bachelor’s degree.
"While (Eubank) has certainly made use of his time in juvenile detention to attempt to better himself and to learn and understand how his conduct has affected his victims and the community at large," Molloy wrote, "this Court finds that these efforts at rehabilitation cannot overcome the seriousness of the crimes to which he pled Guilty, nor alleviate the negative impact on the victims of those crimes."
'An injustice of monumental proportion'
In a court filing, Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders wrote that granting Eubank’s request for probation would be “an injustice of monumental proportion, unprecedented in this jurisdiction.”
Sanders said multiple police agencies began investigating Eubank after the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services received a report alleging Eubank raped two teenage girls.
Detectives identified at least six victims who reported being sexually assaulted by Eubank. Prosecutors and Eubank’s lawyers reached a plea agreement in January 2020 regarding four of them, though it acknowledged the existence of the other two, the prosecutor wrote.
Sanders wrote that by pleading guilty, Eubank escaped a maximum possible sentence of 70 years with the possibility of parole after 17 years, if he were found guilty by a jury.
“In short, (Eubank) had plenty to lose and gained much through this bargained-for exchange,” the prosecutor wrote.
He argued that Eubank’s request for probation was an attempt to wriggle out of that deal.
Under the conditions of his plea agreement, Eubank must serve eight-and-a-half years of his sentence before he’s eligible for parole.
“This Defendant has subjected six girls to life sentences of being victims of sexual abuse and rape,” Sanders wrote. “These six victims were promised justice.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Joseph Eubank, former CovCath basketball player, denied probation
