Lexington jury acquits John Tilley in rape trial

John Tilley, the former secretary of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet and a former state representative from Hopkinsville, was acquitted Tuesday in a rape trial, the Lexington Herald Leader and other news media reported.

A Fayette Circuit Court jury reached its verdict Tuesday after deliberating for about five hours at the conclusion of a two-day trial, according to the Herald Leader’s coverage.

Tilley was charged with first-degree rape in August 2022. He pleaded not guilty.

Police said that on April 15 of that year Tilley had sex at the Marriott City Center hotel in downtown Lexington with a young woman who was too intoxicated to consent.

The defense and the prosecution disagreed about the woman’s level of intoxication. Tilley admitted going to a hotel room with the woman, but he said the sex was consensual.

Tilley, then 53, and the woman, who was 21, did not know each other. They met on the street in downtown Lexington as Tilley and two men that he knew in state government were walking from a bar to the hotel.

According to court testimony and surveillance video, the woman approached the group and said she wanted to go with them.

The woman testified that when she woke the next morning in the hotel room, she did not know what had happened. Tilley had left the room.

The woman said she had been out drinking with friends and the last thing she remembered was an unknown man (not Tilley) giving her a shot of liquor.

Tilley, who previously practiced law in Hopkinsville, represented the 8th House District as a Democratic representative from 2007 until late 2015. He chaired the House Judiciary Committee and has been involved in criminal justice reform work in Kentucky and nationally.

In late 2015, Tilley accepted newly elected Republican Gov. Matt Bevin’s appointment to served as justice cabinet secretary. He remained in the administration through Bevin’s one term as governor.