Man indicted on 16 felony counts of sex with minors

Man indicted on 16 felony counts of sex with minors

Prosecutor says indictments involve 5 victims, including 1 family member.

August 21, 2008

By Lauren Pack

HAMILTON — A New Miami man has been indicted by a Butler County grand jury on 16 felony counts of having sex with young girls.

Kenneth Lee Ashcraft, 41, was arrested last month by Hamilton police and charged with three counts of rape and three counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor for alledgedly having sex with young girls between 1989 and 2004. The alleged sexual relationships began when the girls were 11 and 12, according to detectives and the victims who testified at a preliminary hearing in Hamilton Municipal Court.

On Wednesday, Aug. 20, the grand jury returned 11 counts of rape, four counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and one count of felonious sexual penetration against Ashcraft.

Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Jennifer McElfresh said the indictments involved five victims, one of which is a family member. The alleged victims ranged in age from seven to 15. McElfresh said she believes there are more victims who have not come forward.

During a preliminary hearing on July 16, two women, now ages 31 and 27, testified about a sexual relationship with "Kenny" that began when they were young girls.

In the summer of 1993, one of the women said she met Ashcraft at a residence on Buckeye Street where he was renting a room from a friend's mother.

"We hung out. He had a paper route and I helped him deliver papers," she said. A week into the friendship, Ashcraft 27, asked her at age 11 to be his "girlfriend." The relationship soon became sexual, she said.

The second victim testified she met Ashcraft in the summer of 1989. At the age of 14, she had Ashcraft's son, now a teenager.

"I have been waiting for this for years," said the mother of the first woman to testify against Ashcraft.