WOMAN FACES FELONY, EX-PROSECUTOR A MISDEMEANOR OVER TAPED SEX

A defendant who videotaped herself having sex with a Hardin County
prosecutor she accused of misconduct has been charged with felony video
voyeurism - while the prosecutor faces a misdemeanor misconduct charge.

The defendant, Erica French, was indicted yesterday in Jefferson County on
charges she installed a camera in the closet of her bedroom in Louisville,
and then taped herself having sex May 19 with then-Assistant Commonwealth's
Attorney Robert W. Stevens.

French's lawyer, Kenneth Daniels, also was indicted on the same charge for
helping her have the camera installed.

Video voyeurism, a Class D felony, carries a punishment of one to five
years in prison.

"I'm just beside myself, to be honest with you. I just can't believe it,"
said Daniels, 52, who recently retired and moved to Florida. "That's
interesting that the lawyer that turned the prosecutor in is the one
charged. That's just amazing."

French and Daniels say they were trying to prove that Stevens had made
inappropriate advances toward her during talks involving her cooperation
with the prosecution of other defendants. French had agreed to testify in a
drug case Stevens was prosecuting.

Stevens, who has since been fired, was indicted on one count of official
misconduct, a misdemeanor.

Harry Rothgerber, first assistant in the commonwealth attorney's office,
said prosecutors tried to charge Stevens with felony bribery but couldn't
make the charge work because Stevens didn't gain financially.

"We tried every way possible to come up with a felony," he said. "That was
just the best we could do."

Daniels says French told him that Stevens promised to use his influence to
withdraw her guilty plea and drop drug charges if she had sex with him.
Stevens couldn't be reached for comment last night.

French agreed to plead guilty in Hardin County to five charges involving
marijuana and possession of some of the ingredients needed to make
methamphetamine, and to serve five years' probation. The agreement also
required her to provide information to prosecutors handling the case
against co-defendants.

Jefferson County prosecutor Shane Young, who is handling the video
voyeurism case, said it is illegal to videotape someone having sex without
their consent and then distribute it.

He said Daniels and French had other options if they felt Stevens was
engaging in improper behavior.

"(Daniels) could have just reported it to the bar association," Young said.
"An attorney reporting another attorney is a pretty serious matter. There's
a lot of other things they could have done rather than making a videotape
of someone engaging in sexual activity."

Daniels told the Kentucky Bar Association, the attorney general's office
and the county's three circuit judges about the tape.

In a May interview, Daniels told The Courier-Journal he talked to Stevens
about the tape and that Stevens offered to use his influence to have the
charges against French dropped if Daniels kept the tape secret.

Daniels said he had no choice but to report what he knew to the court and
to the bar association.

Both Daniels and French are scheduled for arraignment Monday. French could
not be reached for comment, and Daniels thought she was not in Kentucky.