Revealed: Hidden Truths Behind Former Kentucky Governor’s Family Image

Matt Bevin emerged as a staunch advocate for family values during his gubernatorial campaign in Kentucky, wielding the Bible and accompanied by his nine children as symbols of his commitment. His 2015 victory catapulted him into the governor’s seat, where he vowed to overhaul Kentucky’s troubled foster care and adoption system.

Throughout his campaign, Bevin traversed the Bluegrass State alongside his wife, Glenna, and their sizeable family, which included five biological children and four adopted from Ethiopia in 2012. Their presence painted a picture of wholesomeness reminiscent of classic Americana—a well-dressed, affluent businessman, a conservative Christian leader, and a joyful interracial family, all epitomizing the principles of compassion and action.

However, beneath the polished exterior of their $2 million Louisville mansion, one of these adoptions was quietly facing challenges, hinting at a more complex reality than the public image suggested.

The image was as wholesome as apple pie. A wealthy businessman in a tailored suit. A conservative Christian patriarch. A beaming interracial family that seemed to embody compassion in action.

But behind the Gothic façade of their $2 million Louisville mansion, one of those adoptions was quietly unravelling.

Now, as Bevin battles his ex-wife in an acrimonious divorce, one of his adopted sons has stepped forward with allegations that cut to the heart of the family man brand that propelled his father into office.

Jonah Bevin, 19, claimed he was abandoned at 17 in a now-shuttered Jamaican ‘troubled teen’ facility where he said he was beaten, waterboarded and left behind when other American children were rescued.

In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Jonah alleged his adoptive father paraded him as proof of his Christian charity while ignoring his struggles at home.

Matt and Glenna Bevin with their nine children, including their five biological children and four Ethiopian adoptees, including Jonah Bevin (fourth from right) 

Jonah now says that he was abandoned by the family and needs the support and college education that his siblings got

‘He used to lift me up in front of hundreds and thousands of people and say: “Look, this is a starving kid I adopted from Africa and brought to the US”,’ Jonah said.

‘But it was so he looked good. I lived in a forced family. I was his political prop.’

Matt and Glenna Bevin did not respond to requests for comment. Both have rejected allegations of abuse and neglect.

The former governor has contradicted Jonah’s recollections in court, described him as a troubled teen and maintained that he cares deeply for his son.

In a statement last year, Glenna acknowledged the ‘extremely difficult and painful’ rupture involving Jonah, adding: ‘I love my children and want the best for all of them.’ 

Jonah was born in Harar, Ethiopia, in 2007. At five years old, he was adopted from an impoverished orphanage by the Bevins, who already had five children. The couple adopted three more Ethiopians, biological siblings, soon after.

On paper, it looked like a fairy-tale rescue. A multimillionaire entrepreneur with a flair for politics brings four African children to America.

The family settles into a sprawling Gothic-style home. The kids attend good schools. Private jets. A Maserati in the driveway. The campaign brochures write themselves.

But Jonah said cracks appeared almost immediately. He struggled to read and said he did not become literate until he was 13.

He described clashing with his adoptive parents over race, culture and trauma – differences he alleged were never acknowledged, let alone addressed.

Glenna, he claimed, played favorites and belittled him over his learning difficulties, calling him ‘dumb’ and ‘stupid.’

As a pre-teen, he was already cycling through day programs. Soon, he was gone from the family home altogether.

Matt Bevin and his wife Glenna celebrating his November 2015 election victory

The Bevins lived a life of multimillion dollar mansions, private jets and sports cars 

‘If you genuinely loved a kid, you would keep them in your home,’ he said.

Instead, Jonah said he entered the shadowy world known as the ‘troubled teen industry.’

He first landed at Master’s Ranch in Couch, Missouri, a military-style, faith-based program for boys described as at-risk.

Master’s Ranch has faced investigations, lawsuits and scrutiny following reports of abuse and the closure of a sister facility in Washington state. 

Missouri’s Department of Social Services substantiated some claims of abuse and neglect there, but Master’s Ranch officials have denied any wrongdoing. They did not answer our request for comment.

Atlantis Leadership Academy founder and director, Randall Cook, denied the abuse and has not been charged

Jonah told the Daily Mail that he witnessed and experienced harsh discipline, isolation and physical violence.

Most of the boys around him, he said, were adoptees – many of them black children adopted by white Christian families.

His attorney, Dawn Post, argued that Jonah’s story is not a one-off tragedy but part of a broader pattern.

She described what she calls a hidden pipeline in which adopted children – particularly adoptees of color from intercountry or interracial placements – are funneled into a loosely regulated network of private, often religiously affiliated facilities when adoptions break down.

Some 80,000 adoptions occur annually in the US, excluding those by stepparents. More than 1,200 are international – a number that has dropped sharply these past two decades amid tighter scrutiny.

Experts estimate that up to ten percent of adoptions ultimately disrupt or dissolve.

Post cited estimates suggesting adoptees may make up roughly 30 percent of the troubled teen population, though comprehensive data is scarce.

When placements fail, she said, some parents turn to programs marketed directly to adoptive families, rather than seeking in-home services or therapy.

Photos of Jonah from one of several fundraising campaigns to help those cast aside in ‘broken adoptions’

Paris Hilton who has fought against the troubled teen industry since she experienced it herself, flew to Jamaica to support the boys and spoke out against the school

Post contends that facilities in Jamaica became hubs for American teens sent abroad, beyond the reach of US regulators. She leads a campaign to rescue victims.

‘What they have done is conveniently export all of their abusive techniques that they were not allowed to do in the US to outside the country, where there is no regulation, licensing or oversight,’ Post said.

For Jonah, the worst chapter unfolded at Atlantis Leadership Academy (ALA) in Jamaica.

At 16 and 17, he said, he endured brutal treatment: waterboarding, beatings with metal brooms and sticks, forced fights staged for staff entertainment, and being forced to kneel on bottle caps.

In February 2024, Jamaican child welfare officials and the US Embassy carried out an unannounced visit.

Authorities reported signs of neglect, starvation and physical abuse. Former students described being beaten with pipes, forced into stress positions for hours and cut off from contact with their families.

Five employees were arrested and charged with child cruelty and assault. The school’s founder, Randall Cook, later left Jamaica, saying he faced death threats from activists.

When the facility was shut down, Jonah said most white American children were retrieved by their families.

‘Only three of us – three black kids – were the only ones that stayed back because our parents didn’t want us,’ he said.

He claimed his adoptive parents refused repeated requests from the US Embassy and Child Protective Services to bring him home. The Bevins have rejected claims of abandonment.

Campaigner Paris Hilton, herself a survivor of the troubled teen industry, helped draw attention to the case.

Young people at the Atlantic Leadership Academy, a faith-based school that was closed down for abusing those in its care

In June 2024 she testified before the US House Ways and Means Committee, citing ALA as evidence for the need to pass the Stop Institutional Child Abuse Act to prevent American youth from being ‘warehoused’ abroad.

Hilton has continued to press for oversight amid what she calls alarming reports that ALA was not an isolated operation.

While Jonah was overseas, his father’s political fortunes had already nosedived.

Bevin’s single term as governor saw him sign a 2018 law aimed at cutting red tape and speeding up adoptions. He created an adoption ‘czar’ and pushed foster care reforms.

Attorney Dawn Post traveled to Jamaica to help Jonah Bevin and others

But the Tea Party-aligned firebrand also clashed with teachers’ unions, alienated moderates and developed a reputation as being abrasive. In 2019, voters sent him packing, electing Democrat Andy Beshear.

He returned to business, heading a medical device company. Then the family itself fractured.

Glenna Bevin filed for divorce in May 2023, describing the 27-year marriage as ‘irretrievably broken.’ The split was finalized in March 2025, but wrangling over a proposed financial settlement continues.

In May 2025, Jefferson Family Court Judge Angela Johnson ruled that Jonah may intervene in the proceedings to protect his interests in any settlement. 

Bevin’s lawyers have sought to keep him out of the case, including at a hearing in January.

Jonah said the divorce battle represents his last shot at securing the educational and financial support he believes he was denied.

‘They caused a lot of pain in my life… and I think I deserve the money and the education that I didn’t get,’ he said.

He now works part-time in construction. He said he suffers from PTSD and said he has nerve damage from a recent stabbing.

The Atlantis Leadership Academy is located on Treasure Beach on Jamaica’s south coast

He cannot afford therapy. He lives in temporary accommodation in a small Utah town he described as racist and isolating.

According to Jonah, he was always told that his birth mother was dead. He said he recently reconnected with her and other relatives in Ethiopia. 

He hopes to move to Florida and study political science.

Post argued that once teens age out of such programs at 18, many are effectively discarded – flown back to US entry points without stable housing, documentation or family support.

She alleged that some facilities evolved from US programs previously shut down for abuse, with leadership and methods migrating offshore.

She described extreme discipline, isolation, food deprivation and forced labor.

For critics, the irony cuts deep. Bevin built his brand on reforming adoption and championing the sanctity of family.

Yet his own adopted son now alleges he was cast aside when he became inconvenient.

The former governor has pushed back in court, questioning Jonah directly during a March 2025 hearing on an emergency protective order and suggesting his recollections are inaccurate.

The Bevins’ other adopted Ethiopian children have not publicly spoken. The Daily Mail attempted to contact them.

Jonah says the Bevins never tried to understand him or the culture of his hometown, Harar, in Ethiopia

For Jonah, the glossy campaign photos of the family feel like relics from another life.

He remembers the applause, the cameras and the speeches about compassion. He remembers being hoisted up before crowds as living proof of Christian charity.

Now he is fighting, not for applause, but for a seat at the table in a Kentucky courtroom – and a slice of the future he said he was promised.

The battle lines are drawn. The family values governor who once vowed to mend a broken system now faces scrutiny over whether his own house was built on sand.