Woman Charged For Hindering Police Investigation

Updated: Tue 1:32 PM, Aug 21, 2007

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) - An employee of a group that helps victims of spouse abuse is charged with tipping a client to a pending raid by law enforcement.

Sylvia Woody, 47, who works for Women Aware, which operates the
Merryman House Domestic Violence Crisis Center in Paducah, was arrested Friday on a charge of hindering an investigation.

McCracken County Sheriff John Hayden said he was forced to call off the search after learning that the resident had been notified deputies were planning to search for drugs.

Vonnie Adams, executive, director of Women Aware and the Merryman House, declined to comment on the arrest.

Woody called an apartment used to protect spouse abuse victims and allegedly told her client that sheriff's deputies were planning to raid it, Hayden said. That call was made right after a sheriff's deputy called Women Aware to gather information for a search warrant, Hayden said.

Woody is free on a $500 bond and faces an Aug. 30 preliminary hearing.

--- Information from: The Paducah Sun, http://www.paducahsun.com

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