Authorities have charged Carsen Richards, Chase Matthew's bassist, with child sex crimes. He was arrested on May 9 following a headlining concert at a Kentucky music festival. Reports indicate the arrest took place shortly after the event concluded.
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He faces two counts of second-degree sodomy and two counts of incest involving a person under the age of 18 by someone at least three years older. The victim's mother reported the alleged abuse in November 2025.
The victim, who is autistic, was aged 12 to 14 at the time of the alleged assaults, which reportedly occurred in 2020. Richards remains in custody at the Daviess County Detention Center and is being held on a $75,000 cash bond.
Chase Matthew Has Issued a Statement
Following Richards' arrest, Chase Matthew released a statement via Instagram, noting that he wasn't aware of Richards' actions. At the same time, he made it clear that he does not condone the alleged behavior.
"The situation has honestly been one of the most shocking and heartbreaking things I've ever experienced. When I first heard the allegations, I was sick to my stomach. I would never associate myself with a person I think could be remotely capable of something like this, much less hire them to be on my team."
Later in the statement, Matthew noted how you never truly know what a colleague is doing when you're not together within a work setting.
"The reality is, you don't always know what someone may be doing outside of your workplace. Nothing would have made me believe this was a possibility. As of his arrest this past weekend, this individual was immediately removed from the band and is no longer associated with me or my team in any capacity."
The statement ended with Matthew stating unequivocally that he has no support or tolerance for the type of actions Richards has undertaken.
"And I want to be very clear: I do not support or tolerate behavior of this kind whatsoever. 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. I trust that the legal system will go through the correct procedures to get to the bottom of this."
