By Esteban Fernandez, The Register-Herald
BECKLEY — Former County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hatfield has a fourth lawsuit filed against him.
The woman who previously accused Hatfield of coercing her into sex filed a civil lawsuit against Hatfield on June 5. She alleges Hatfield used the power of his office to continually extract gratification from her body under threat of prosecution for criminal charges. The court filing contains more details on the nature of the allegations against Hatfield since at least September 2024.
“The Defendant frequently reminded Plaintiff that he had prevented her from being jailed, charged and prosecuted,” the civil filing states. The Defendant frequently reminded Plaintiff that many of the charges he had prevented could still be filed against her.”
The suit goes on to state Hatfield and the Plaintiff mostly communicated via a social media app that automatically deletes messages after posting.
“The Defendant communicated with Plaintiff mostly by social media which deletes after posting,” the statement says. “On one occasion Plaintiff took a screen shot of one message, and Defendant chastised her for taking the screen shot and threatened her never to do it again.”