Former Kentucky justice secretary and lawmaker charged with rape

Former state Rep. John Tilley, who oversaw Kentucky’s state prison system under former Gov. Matt Bevin, has been charged with first-degree rape.

A spokesperson for the Lexington Police Department told The Courier Journal Tilley was charged Monday morning "regarding a Special Victims Investigation that occurred this year."

"At this time, it is still an ongoing investigation," spokesperson Hannah Sloan said.

Tilley, 53, was being held Monday morning at the Lexington-Fayette County jail, according to the detention center's online database.

He was released late that day after posting a $25,000 bond, and his arraignment hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday in Fayette District Court.

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Tilley's attorneys, Steve Schroering and Chris Spedding, say their client is innocent of the charge and turned himself in to investigators in Lexington Monday morning.

"John Tilley maintains his innocence of the criminal charges and has cooperated with the investigation," Schroering said. "He respects the judicial process and has no further comment at this time."

Tilley spent four years working as secretary of Kentucky's Justice and Public Safety Cabinet during Bevin's term as governor from December 2015 through 2019.

In that role, Tilley oversaw the Kentucky State Police and the state departments of corrections and juvenile justice, among other government operations.

As secretary, Tilley helped implement a new rape kit law on the handling of evidence in sexual assault investigations, intended to reduce a long backlog in the testing of such evidence by the Kentucky State Police forensic laboratory.

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In a 2019 Kentucky State Police press release on the agency's use of new rapid DNA tests for rape kits, Tilley stated: “In Kentucky, we believe in justice. Regardless of where you live, or work or play in the state, you should expect to be safe from crimes of sexual assault."

Before serving as the cabinet secretary, Tilley was elected to five terms as a Democratic state legislator from Hopkinsville. His time in office included a stint as chairman of the legislature's House Judiciary Committee.

Tilley was a lead sponsor of a landmark criminal justice reform bill passed in 2011 to reduce the number of Kentucky state inmates incarcerated for low-level drug convictions. He currently is listed as a senior fellow with the Council on Criminal Justice, a national criminal justice reform group.

In the 2022 session of the Kentucky General Assembly, Tilley served as a legislative lobbyist for Pace-O-Matic — a maker of slot-like "gray machines" — and Lifeskills, Inc., a behavioral mental health provider that contracts with the state.

This story will be updated.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Ex-Kentucky justice secretary, lawmaker John Tilley charged with rape