Country singer's bassist arrested on child sex charges moments after performing at music festival
Country star Chase Matthew's band member has been charged with multiple child sex crimes, Fox News Digital has confirmed.
Carsen Richards, the 22-year bassist for Matthew, was arrested after he had performed at the BBQ & Barrels event in Owensboro, Kentucky on Saturday.
According to the Daviess County jail records obtained by Fox News Digital, Richards has been charged with sodomy and incest involving a person under 18 by a person three or more years or older, and is being held on a $75,000 bond.
According to the Owensboro Police Department, detectives with the Winchester Kentucky Police Department informed them that Richards was wanted out of their jurisdiction on felony charges and a band he was associated with would be performing at the BBQ and Barrels event on May 9, 2026.
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Winchester Police detectives provided further information that Richards was known to have access to multiple firearms and was frequently armed, the OPD said in a statement. The department's Criminal Investigation’s Division began developing an operations plan to take Richards into custody in the event he was not arrested by another agency prior to his arrival in Owensboro.
After positively identifying Richards during Matthew's set, a team of officers took Richards into custody around 9:40 p.m. shortly after he exited the stage, before he could reach a tour bus and away from the main crowd.
Richards was confirmed to not be armed at the time of his arrest. Richards was transported to the Daviess County Detention Center.
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According to an arrest warrant obtained by LEX18, a local NBC affiliate, the victim's mother reported to Winchester Police in November 2025 that her autistic son had been abused by Richards. The victim later confirmed the abuse to WPD during a December 2025 interview, stating that Richards allegedly assaulted him in 2020 and 2022, when he would have been ages 12 and 14.
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The victim's mother allegedly confronted Richards at his Tennessee apartment in February.
"During the confrontation," Carsen Richards stated, 'There is nothing more I have regretted in my life," "I made an awful mistake," the arrest warrant states.
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Shortly after the arrest, Matthew took to social media to share his thoughts on the matter.
"This situation has honestly been one of the most shocking and heartbreaking things I’ve ever experienced," he wrote on Instagram. "When I first heard the allegations, I was sick to my stomach. I would never associate myself with a person I think could even be remotely capable of something like this, much less hire them to be on my team. The reality is, you don’t always know what someone may be doing outside of your workplace, and nothing would have made me believe this was a possibility."
Matthew said Richards was "immediately removed" from the band after his arrest.
"And I want to be very clear: I do not support or tolerate behavior of this kind whatsoever," he continued. "I am truly disturbed and disgusted by the details of these allegations. My heart breaks for anyone affected. Like you, I’m learning this information as it comes out publicly. I don’t know anything more than y’all know. This is an ongoing legal matter, and I trust that the legal system will go through the correct procedures to get to the bottom of this."