Background: Ronald Exantus appears in court (WHAS/YouTube). Inset: Ladeidra Jones, chair of the Kentucky Parole Board (Kentucky.gov).
The Kentucky Parole Board is raising concerns over “misleading information” circulating about a convict’s prison release, which has led to its members receiving threats.
Ronald Exantus, age 42, was acquitted due to insanity in the 2018 case of 6-year-old Logan Tipton’s death, a crime from 2015 that deeply affected the Lexington community. Nonetheless, Exantus was convicted of assault, resulting in his incarceration.
The case has drawn attention once again after Exantus left prison. Despite the spotlight on the Kentucky Parole Board over this event, its chair points out the decision was beyond its control — in fact, the board actually opted to keep Exantus imprisoned.
“Although the Parole Board repeatedly voted to keep Ronald Exantus incarcerated, its members have faced severe threats recently, including the public disclosure of their home addresses,” stated Ladeidra Jones, chair of the Kentucky Parole Board, in a press release on Monday. “We urge people to take these threats seriously and focus on the facts: the board did not release Exantus — a statute enacted by the General Assembly did.”
The law she mentioned mandates “mandatory reentry supervision six months before the anticipated finish of an inmate’s sentence if the inmate was not granted discretionary parole.”
The state parole board further clarified that it assessed the case on Sept. 30, as per state law requirements, and unanimously voted to keep him detained. However, the statute, effective since 2017, “obliged the Department of Corrections to release the inmate.”
The Kentucky State Police is reportedly investigating the threats against the nine-member parole board, with the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet — the entity that oversees the parole board — warning against the danger of such threats.
“At a time when political violence is on the rise, it’s more important than ever that information shared is accurate and threats like these are taken seriously,” the cabinet said. “The Parole Board, Team Kentucky and the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet are urging individuals to stop the threats against Board members, share the facts and understand that sharing misleading and incorrect information is dangerous.”
It is unclear who exactly has made such threats and whether anyone has been charged for them.
The scrutiny of Exantus’ release has reached as high as the White House. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote on social media on Saturday that “I can confirm the White House is looking into this. It’s wholly unacceptable for a child killer to walk free after just several years in prison.”
Inset left: Ronald Exantus (Kentucky Online Offender Lookup). Inset right: Logan Tipton (WKYT/YouTube). Background: The Tipton home where the attack and killing occurred (WKYT/YouTube).
The deadly attack occurred on Dec. 7, 2015, and Logan’s father, Dean Tipton, was reportedly sleeping. He was woken up by his children, who were saying a man was in the home attacking them.
“When I got to the top of the stairs, he attacked me. He come at me with the knife,” Tipton said, per Lexington-based CBS and The CW affiliate WKYT. “He stood up with me on top of him, just stood up and threw me 10-15 feet across the room,” the father — who was also injured in the attack along with his two daughters — added.
The Tipton family expressed shock that Exantus could be released, with Logan’s grandmother suggesting “justice” has been denied.
Tipton, who said he “gave up” following the death of his son, asserted with no room for doubt what he would do if he ever saw Exantus.
“I’m not afraid to tell you, I told the court, if I ever cross paths with him, I will kill the man,” the father said. “I will kill him where he stands.”
