Chase Matthew band member arrested after show for abusing 12 year old
FROM THE NEWS: New court records allege that Carsen Richards, a touring band member for country artist Chase Matthew, sexually abused an autistic child beginning when the child was 12 years old. Richards was arrested in Owensboro following Saturday night’s BBQ & Barrels concert.
Richards, 22, of Hendersonville, Tennessee, faces two counts of second-degree sodomy and two counts of incest involving a person under 18 by a person three or more years older, according to records filed in Clark District Court. He was arrested by the Owensboro Police Department shortly after performing on the Owensboro Convention Center lawn during the downtown festival. According to Richards’ Instagram profile, he serves as bassist and music director for Chase Matthew.

According to a criminal complaint filed by Winchester Police Department Detective Bob Mott, the charges stem from incidents alleged to have occurred in December 2020 and December 2022 in Clark County.
The complaint alleged the victim’s mother reported the accusations to Winchester Police on Nov. 24, 2025, and that a child advocacy center interview took place in Lexington on Dec. 3, 2025.
According to the complaint, the alleged victim reported two incidents involving Richards, including one when the alleged victim was 12 years old in 2020 and another when the alleged victim was 14 years old in 2022.
The complaint also stated the alleged victim “has been diagnosed as Autistic Level 1 by Vanderbilt University Hospital.”
According to the complaint, the alleged victim’s mother confronted Richards outside his apartment in Hendersonville on Feb. 12, 2026. The complaint alleged Richards responded, “There is nothing more I have regretted in my life,” and “I made an awful mistake.”