Case against fmr. Kentucky Justice Cabinet Secretary will go before grand jury

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - A former state official will go before a grand jury in Lexington.

John Tilley, a former Kentucky Justice Cabinet Secretary, is facing a rape charge.

Tilley waived his right to a preliminary hearing in court Friday morning. Tilley appeared with his lawyers and told the judge he decided not to have a hearing determining probable cause and will instead go straight to the Grand Jury.

The former state lawmaker turned himself in to police at the beginning of August after he was accused of rape.

The arrest citation says that on April 15 Tilley had sex with a woman without her consent at a hotel in downtown Lexington. Documents say the woman was too intoxicated to give consent.

Tilley’s lawyers entered a not guilty plea for him and have said that he is innocent.

The 53-year-old served for five years as a state lawmaker from Hopkinsville and served as the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet Secretary while Matt Bevin was the state’s governor.

Tilley was instrumental in implementing a new rape kit law during his time in the Bevin Administration. That law helped reduce the backlog of testing rape kits in the Commonwealth.

The new system used Rapid DNA sexual assault kits, which can help police identify suspects within hours of the samples being sent to the KSP Forensics Lab.

At the time Tilley said “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.”

The judge did not set a date for his next court appearance.

Copyright 2022 WKYT. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.