Ex-justice secretary and legislator accused with rape

A former Kentucky Justice Cabinet secretary and state legislator was arrested and charged with rape on Monday.

Former state Rep. John Tilley, who headed Kentucky’s state prison system under former Gov. Matt Bevin, is accused of having intercourse with a woman who could not agree due to her degree of drunkenness, according to an arrest document obtained by CBS affiliate WKYT.

Tilley, 53, was in the Lexington-Fayette County prison.

Steve Schroering, Tilley’s attorney, informed news outlets that his client is innocent and has turned himself in.

“John Tilley maintains his innocence and has cooperated with the inquiry,” Schroering said. “He respects the court process and will not say more at this time.” According to a Lexington Police Department official, Tilley was charged “related a Special Victims Investigation that happened this year.”

“At this moment, the inquiry is still underway,” spokesman Hannah Sloan told the publication.

Tilley served as Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Public Safety from December 2015 to 2019, leading the Kentucky State Police, the Department of Corrections, and other departments.

Tilley assisted in the implementation of a new rape kit statute, as well as the establishment of new protocols on handling evidence in sexual assault cases, according to the Courier-Journal.

Tilley previously spent five years as a Democratic state legislator from Hopkinsville.