Jonah Bevin listens to the judge during a family court hearing in Louisville on March 25, 2025. Melina Hettiaratchi, a lawyer, is at left.
A judge has issued a restraining order prohibiting Glenna Bevin from having any contact with her adopted son, Jonah Bevin, after he requested that his adoptive parents, former Gov. Matt Bevin and Glenna Bevin, have no contact with him.
Matt Bevin is already subject to a six-month protective order that prohibits him from contacting or communicating with Jonah, who claims the Bevins abandoned him at the age of 17 in a brutally abusive youth facility in Jamaica.
Jonah, now 18, appeared in court last month, seeking orders to protect him from the Bevins, who are now divorced, alleging they attempted to get him out of the country by hastily arranging a trip to Ethiopia, where they claimed to have found his biological mother.
Jonah claims in a court filing that they were attempting to “get me to disappear.”
Matt and Glenna Bevin have not responded to requests for comment.
Dawn J. Post, a lawyer representing Jonah, said she has been unable to confirm the existence of a mother in Ethiopia who Jonah had been told was deceased since his adoption by the Bevins at the age of five.
He was one of four children the couple adopted from Ethiopia in 2012; they also have five biological children, all of whom are adults except for one.
According to Post, Jonah is eager to learn more about his mother and other relatives, but her independent investigation has yielded no evidence of their existence.
“We are going to pursue our own search,” she told me. “It is still very important to him.”
Jefferson Circuit Judge Angela Johnson issued a protective order Monday, giving the Bevins seven days to provide all information they have about Jonah’s adoption and biological family.
Meanwhile, another hearing in the case is scheduled for April 21 to decide whether to seal Bevins’ proposed divorce settlement. In a court filing last month, the couple informed the judge that they had reached a settlement but wanted it kept confidential and out of the public record to protect their privacy.
The Courier Journal and Jonah both filed motions requesting that it remain public. The media company claims the case is in the public interest, while Jonah claims he needs the information to protect his interests because he has received no support from his adoptive parents.
He also claims he was abused and neglected in the Bevins’ home.
“At present, no one who has Jonah’s interest is involved in the litigation,” said the motion filed by Louisville lawyers John Helmers Jr. and Melina Hettiaratchi. “Jonah’s best guess is that his parents never revealed their abuse and neglect of him to this court, including their failure to meet his basic needs and to provide a safe home and a complete education as required by law.”
