Former Kentucky lawmaker John Tilley found not guilty of rape by Lexington jury

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A former Kentucky state Democratic representative and official in Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin's cabinet has been acquitted by a Fayette County jury on a charge of first-degree rape.

The jury found John Tilley, 55, not guilty Tuesday night after about five hours of deliberation. The trial began on Monday.

Police had claimed Tilley had sex with a victim who could not consent due to her level of intoxication on April 15, 2022.

Defense attorneys Steve Schroering and Chris Spedding argued to jurors that Tilley and the woman were drinking and had consensual sex, and Tilley should never have been charged.

“Mr. Tilley is grateful the jury heard all of the evidence and saw in fact that there was no crime committed,” Schroering said in an interview Wednesday. “He’s anxious to move past this difficult time of his life.”

A civil suit filed by the woman against Tilley is pending.

Tilley was a five-term state representative from Hopkinsville, Kentucky, who served as a Democrat. He is also the former chair of the Kentucky House Judiciary Committee and served as the secretary for the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet under Gov. Bevin, overseeing the state's prison system.

The alleged victim told police she blacked out after being given an alcoholic shot by a man she didn’t know at a Lexington bar.

The woman told police she woke up the next morning unclothed in a hotel room “with no memory of how she arrived there,” according to an affidavit written by a Lexington police officer. She took an Uber home and her roommate drove her to the hospital and called police.

Video from the Marriott Hotel of the victim showed her with three men, including Tilley, who was guiding her as she was “unstable on her feet and needed help keeping her balance,” police wrote in the affidavit. Tilley was identified by the hotel staff, according to police.

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