Accusations grow in rape investigation

Accusations grow in rape investigation

Police probe goes back 20 years

July 10, 2008

By Sheila McLaughlin

Now, Hamilton police say that Kenneth L. Ashcraft's interest in young girls has placed him at the center of one of the city's largest rape investigations - one that spans almost 20 years.

The investigation is expected to grow as more victims come forward.

Police said they may never know just how many there are.

"It happened in various locations, basically wherever he lived at the time. He just met the girls around the neighborhood and some other ways and ended up doing whatever he could," Detective Mark Hayes said Wednesday.

"I think it was kind of well known. It's just nobody ever told the police or children services. People knew that he liked young girls, but never called."

The 41-year-old mechanic from New Miami was jailed in Butler County in lieu of $225,000 bond after being arraigned Wednesday on six felony charges of rape and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor involving two girls from 1989 - the year he was divorced - through 1997.

According to Butler County divorce records, Ashcraft was married to a 13-year-old girl in 1988 in Russell Springs, Ky. The couple divorced six months later in April 1989.

Police say one of the girls he is now accused of raping was 11 when the sexual assaults began. The abuse continued until she was 15.

Police came upon the women after they began investigating Ashcraft during another child sex case in November.

They aren't the only offenses that Ashcraft could face by the time the case gets to a grand jury, Hayes said.

Police have evidence involving a girl as young as 4, and they are tracking down new leads.

"Every time we talk to somebody, they say ... you need to talk to this person also," Hayes said.

For now, police are keeping a tight lid on what they've learned about Ashcraft.

"There are a lot of interesting details to it that we can't really share yet," Hayes said.

Some of them could come out at a preliminary hearing next Wednesday when Ashcraft appears again in Hamilton Municipal Court.