A 22-year-old musician identified on social media as the bassist for Chase Matthew was arrested Saturday night in Owensboro on child sex crime charges. Carsen Richards is charged with sodomy and incest with a person under 18, according to Kentucky court records.
The arrest came the same night Chase Matthew headlined the BBQ and Barrels festival in Owensboro, putting the singer’s tour operation in the local spotlight while the charge against Richards sat in court records tied to Clark County. The timing matters because the arrest and the festival happened in the same city on the same night, with Richards’ role in the act drawing immediate attention to the band behind the headliner.
Kentucky court records show the charge is out of Clark County, and Richards is 22. Social media profiles identify him as the bassist for Chase Matthew, which is the connection that places the arrest alongside one of the city’s biggest weekend events.
What happens next is straightforward: Richards will move through the Kentucky court process on charges that are among the most serious in the state system, while attention remains on whether his status in Chase Matthew’s band changes after the arrest. The key fact is already set by the record — a member of the musician’s touring circle was arrested in Owensboro on Saturday night while the headline show went on at the festival.
