‘I don’t remember anything.’ Accuser testifies in ex-secretary John Tilley’s rape trial

Former state lawmaker and cabinet secretary John Tilley gave his own account of what happened the night he is accused of sexually assaulting a young woman after celebrating a legislative win in downtown Lexington.

The 55-year-old was charged with first-degree rape in April 2022, after a woman — identified in court documents as “B.D.” — told police she blacked out after a man she didn’t know gave her an alcoholic drink while she and a friend were visiting bars in downtown Lexington.

The Herald-Leader does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault.

His trial began Monday, where prosecutors alleged Tilley had sex with the woman while she was too intoxicated to consent. Police also said hotel staff identified Tilley as one of three men who can be seen on video surveillance footage leaving the Pavilion area with the woman.

During the testimony of Lexington Police Sgt. Markell Heyward, prosecutors played a recorded police interview with Tilley, where he admitted to having sex with the woman after a brief encounter of meeting her on the street.

Tilley and his attorneys claim that the encounter was a consensual one-night stand, and Tilley made a bad decision. They argue the woman was a “willing participant” in the interaction.

Tilley pleaded not guilty to the charge in August 2022 and was indicted two months later. The trial is expected to last until Thursday.

An attorney, Tilley represented Hopkinsville as a Democratic member of the Kentucky House from 2007 to 2015. He also served as chair of the House Judiciary Committee. Tilley was appointed by former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin to serve as secretary for the state’s Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, a role in which he served for the entirety of Bevin’s one-term administration.

What happened in Tilley’s words

Tilley was interviewed by Heyward on June 3, 2022, in an interview arranged by his attorneys Chris Spedding and Steve Schroering, who were present for the discussion at police headquarters.

In the recorded interview, Tilley recalled it was the last day of the legislative session and he was out with two men — Chris Harris and Joseph Wiedner — celebrating a “favorable win” in Frankfort. The men started their evening at McCarthy’s bar, ate dinner at Malone’s and ended the evening at Stagger Inn, where Tilley said he had “a few beers” until the group left around 2 a.m.

According to Tilley, while returning to the Marriott Hotel at the City Center — a four minute walk from the bar — a young woman approached the group of men, according to Tilley. He shared in the interview with police she immediately stated, “she wanted to go with us.”

The conversation quickly turned flirtatious, Tilley told police. Up to that point, Tilley said he was planning to stay with his friend Chris Harris, but once they arrived at the hotel lobby, Tilley made a decision to get a room for himself and the alleged victim.

Tilley said the woman was coming onto him, and said how she wanted to “do things to him,” in a seductive manner.

“At that point my mind was made up that I wanted to sleep with her and she had wanted to sleep with me,” he said in the police interview. “She made her intentions known to me.”

Tilley and the woman allegedly went into the room and proceeded to engage in sexual intercourse — which he outlined in explicit detail.

Tilley said he was apprehensive about the encounter because he was three decades the woman’s senior. He was also worried about having unprotected sex with the woman, which he proceeded to do.

The next morning, Tilley told police he had a 9 a.m. business call he couldn’t miss and the woman was sleeping soundly. He said he debated saying something to her, but chose not to as it was an awkward situation.

“She was sleeping; she was fine,” he told police. “I was not sure what to say, but she was sleeping soundly.”

Alleged victim testifies against Tilley

During her testimony on Tuesday morning, the woman said she awoke the morning after the encounter alone, with only her socks on.

The woman said she did not know whether or not she was even in Lexington, but immediately began to “scramble” to find something which could piece together who she was with, and what happened, the night before.

“I don’t remember anything that happened,” she told the jury on Tuesday.

The only thing she found to show another person had been there, were two wet towels in the bathroom.

Without a phone or her wallet, she went to the lobby and asked an employee to call her work. She told them she had been raped, and would not be coming in. From there, she said workers called her an Uber, which took her home.

The woman’s roommate testified that she was getting ready for work when her college best friend arrived screaming and crying.

“I had never seen her more distraught,” the roommate testified Tuesday morning. “She bursts into my room and just lost it. She lays on my bed and just sobs.”

The roommate convinced her friend to go to the hospital and get a rape test kit done.

The alleged victim testified the night before that she had been to several bars with friends and received a shot of bourbon from an unknown “older gentlemen” — who was not Tilley — and then remembered nothing after that point.

Video footage played in court shows the woman engaged with a street vendor when she suddenly runs up to Tilley and the other men, which she said she did not recall. As attorneys replayed the tapes, the woman testified she did not remember any of that taking place.