6 indicted in Godley prostitution scheme involving former police chief
The former chief of the Godley Police Department and five other defendants were indicted Wednesday on charges related to their alleged involvement in a prostitution scheme, the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office said.
The grand jury met Wednesday and indicted former chief Matthew Cantrell on charges of engaging in organized criminal activity, promotion of prostitution, stalking, and two counts of sexual assault, according to a news release.
Cantrell and others were initially arrested in April in connection to a prostitution scheme that included allegations of soliciting a man to engage in sexual activity with Cantrell’s wife for money, according to an affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram.
Five others were also indicted Wednesday on charges related to the alleged scheme. Ashley and Michael Ketcherside, who are married, are charged with participating in an enterprise through racketeering and money laundering of more than $150,000 but less than $300,000. Michael Ketcherside faces an additional charge of continuous promotion of prostitution.
Former police officers Solomon Omotoya and Jeremy Arbuthnot are charged with engaging in organized criminal activity, according to the statement. Omotoya is also charged with solicitation of prostitution.
Cantrell’s mother, Regina, who worked as a corrections officer in the Johnson County Jail, was indicted on a charge of misuse of official information, according to the release. Regina Cantrell is accused of reviewing her son’s arrest warrants while the investigation into him was ongoing, according to the district attorney’s office.
Matthew Cantrell is accused of collaborating with the Ketchersides to compile information on Godley public officials and private citizens who they “perceived as adversaries,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit obtained by the Star-Telegram.
Omotoya and Cantrell were among “clients” of the Ketchersides, who worked together frequently to find clients with whom Ashley Ketcherside would have sex, according to the affidavit. Cantrell was doing the same with his own wife, Omotoya told investigators in an interview.
Cantrell is also charged in a separate investigation with using his authority to sexually harass and assault a woman after he assisted her with an investigation at her home in 2012.
An arrest warrant affidavit alleges Cantrell sent the woman text messages, drove past her residence and flashed the lights of his police car, touched her inappropriately and made sexually explicit comments toward her.
District Attorney Timothy Good thanked the grand jury for their service.
“This is an exceptionally detailed and ongoing investigation with some allegations that are very difficult to hear,” Good said in the release. “This ongoing investigation is particularly troubling with several of those accused in the cases presented this morning serving in some capacity of law enforcement. We hold our law enforcement professionals to a higher standard in this community, and we are continuing to investigate this case as additional information is disclosed to investigators.”
