WILLIAMSON – Mingo County Commission President Nathan Brown has filed a defamation lawsuit against a county resident, alleging she falsely accused him on Facebook of protecting a politically connected man accused of sexually abusing a child.
Brown, a Republican seeking re-election November 3, filed the complaint October 26 in Mingo Circuit Court against Karah Sheppard of Dingess.
Brown
The lawsuit centers on an October 25 Facebook post questioning whether Brown, whose name appears on the ballot, was the same Nathan Brown who previously worked at the courthouse and failed to pursue a case involving the alleged sexual abuse of a 2-year-old girl. According to the complaint, the post suggested he declined to subpoena hospital evidence or continue the case because the child’s father had political connections.
Brown denies the accusations. In the complaint, he says he did not allow a child to be harmed or decline to pursue evidence to protect a politically connected person.
“This lawsuit has nothing to do with politics for me,” Brown told The West Virginia Record. “It is about protecting my name and reputation from false and unfounded accusations. We live in a time when people believe they can say anything on social media without consequences. That simply isn’t true.
“Words have consequences, and the freedom to speak does not mean freedom from accountability.”
Although the post was phrased as a question about Brown’s identity, the lawsuit argues it conveyed factual accusations of professional misconduct and political favoritism that damaged his reputation as an attorney and public official.
“I need to know if this is the same guy?” reads part of the post reproduced in the filing.
The complaint alleges Sheppard published the accusations with “actual malice,” which it describes as knowing their defamatory implications were false or acting with reckless disregard for whether they were true. Brown alleges the post caused reputational damage, embarrassment, humiliation and mental anguish.
Brown, a Lenore resident and part owner of the Williamson law firm Ferrell & Brown, says in the complaint he has not served as an assistant prosecuting attorney since 2022.
The filing says Sheppard also tagged Democratic Party supporters in the post to draw attention to the accusations among politically active residents and intended to undermine Brown’s standing during his re-election campaign.
“As a father, public official and attorney, my name, integrity and reputation matter deeply to me,” Brown told The Record. “I have full confidence in the civil justice system and look forward to presenting the facts, defending my name and allowing the truth to speak for itself.”
The complaint accuses Sheppard of defamation and libel, defamation per se and false light invasion of privacy. It seeks compensatory damages for alleged harm to Brown’s personal and professional reputation, along with punitive damages, court costs and interest.
Brown is representing himself in the case, which has been assigned to Circuit Judge Sabrina Deskins.
Brown faces independent candidate Dave Sartin in the November 3 election for the County Commission’s Kermit-Harvey District seat.
Mingo Circuit Court case number 26-C-123
