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A Hardin County man has been arrested as part of a criminal abuse investigation.
Zachary Foster of Elizabethtown was arrested and charged under the Kentucky Revised Statute for Criminal Abuse First Degree – Child 12 or Under.
According to the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office, on October 28 detectives with the office’s Criminal Investigations Division responded to a report of suspected physical abuse involving an infant. The detectives immediately began an investigation in conjunction with Child Protective Services. Over the next two weeks, investigators conducted interviews with the parents and medical professionals regarding injuries sustained by the infant, which the sheriff’s office described as “significant”.
Foster is scheduled to appear in a preliminary hearing on November 21. The sheriff’s office’s investigation is ongoing.
The Elizabethtown Police Department gave community partners the opportunity to view their new victim interview room during an unveiling event Thursday.
EPD Victim Services Specialist Anesha Knott said when Elizabethtown Police Chief Jeremy Thompson hired her, he said she had a blank slate to figure out the best ways to serve victims of crime.
“Over the first year, starting from November of 2023 through last fall, we had a couple of incidents that really popped up and hit at home with us, that were larger incidents that we were like okay, we need a place for kids to be safe here in the PD and we need a place for victims to be interviewed where they feel safe and secure and they feel comfortable talking to the law enforcement officer that’s investigating their case,” Knott said.
Knott secured grant funding to convert one of the standard EPD interview rooms into a more comfortable atmosphere. The grant funding also allowed the EPD to purchase items such as toys, cots, and playpens for when children need to be at the police department for long periods of time along with resources for victims such as emergency housing and emergency cell phone service.
“We’re trying to make things to where it’s more comfortable for the victim, that they have what they need, and they’re more comfortable and feel safer and they can move forward and keep engaging in that process,” Knott said.
Thompson said all divisions of the police department work with victims in some way, but having a dedicated victim services position opened the door for the department to better provide help.
“We like to provide information,” Thompson said. “We like to provide that follow up, but everybody within this role has a cog in the wheel, and that’s not the one that we do the best. It just isn’t, so that’s why we here at the Elizabethtown Police Department have prioritized Anesha’s position.”
The room renovation and other purchases were made possible by a grant from the women-led philanthropic initiative Heels Together.
The Central Kentucky Community Foundation on Thursday announced the recipients of more than $185,000 in grant funding through the foundation’s Granted Program.
“Granted is our annual competitive grant opportunity for nonprofits that serve our nine-county region to apply for funding for various areas to help carry out their missions,” said CKCF President and CEO Davette Swiney.
24 grants were awarded to 22 different organizations in what the foundation says was the biggest year yet for the Granted Program.
“The thing I love about Granted is it’s open to any organization serving our region, so it’s not specific for education or healthcare or human services,” Swiney said. “It’s open to any organization, so with that we’ve got a wide variety of missions and causes that organizations support.”
The Granted Program announcement coincides with National Community Foundation Week, which culminates Saturday with National Philanthropy Day. Find the list of recipients and more information by visiting www.ckcf4people.org.
As the weather turns colder, Friends of Hardin County Animal Shelter is helping area residents who care for outdoor or community cats.
FOHCAS says for the fourth year the organization will be offering free winter cat shelters. The shelters are made of sturdy styrofoam donated by Eurotrol and filled with straw to help outdoor cats get out of the cold.
“These are for cats who live outdoors, who may be feral, or are just being fed by a caretaker but don’t have an indoor home, and so these shelters help to provide some shelter during the winter,” said FOHCAS Board Chair Sarah Fellows.
FOHCAS volunteers will be distributing the shelters from 10 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 22 behind the Hardin County Animal Shelter, located at 220 Peterson Drive in Elizabethtown.
“You’ll just turn down Headquarters Drive right beside the Hardin County Animal Shelter,” Fellows said. “You’ll go past their parking lot and go straight down through the end of that street, which is a cul-de-sac. It’s a very short street and we’ll be there from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. or until those are gone.”
There is a limit of two shelters per car. The shelters are free but donations will be accepted. For more information on the organization, visit the Friends of Hardin County Animal Shelter Facebook page or website.