Gov Beshear: Kentucky State Police SAKI Team Delivers Justice in 20-Year-Old Jefferson County Rape Case

Beshear-Coleman Administration launched Sexual Assault Kit Initiative to deliver more tools in fight against violent crime and sexual assault

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 25, 2025) - Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that justice has been delivered in a 20-year-old Jefferson County rape case thanks to the partnership between the Kentucky State Police (KSP) Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) team, the Lexington Police Department, the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, and the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General.

"We launched the SAKI team in 2021 with the important goal of delivering justice for victims and holding offenders accountable," said Gov. Beshear. "This recent breakthrough is the latest reminder of why this program is so impactful, and I want to thank this incredible team for their hard work in creating a better, safer Kentucky."

On Sept. 11, 2025, George Wayne Aldridge was convicted of rape in the first degree and sentenced to 15 years in prison, where he must serve 85% of the sentence before he is eligible for parole. Aldridge will also be required to register as a lifetime offender on the sex offender registry.

The conviction comes following a significant breakthrough by the SAKI investigative team in August 2023, when DNA testing enabled the team to link Aldridge, who had been indicted for three sexual assaults earlier that year, to a sexual assault case in Louisville in 2005.

The KSP SAKI investigative team was formed in July 2021 after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) awarded $1.5 million to the commonwealth to leverage existing investigative resources within the KSP Crime Lab by transitioning investigators and a criminal intelligence analyst from the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General to KSP. The team works with victims, law enforcement partners, prosecutors and community partners to provide enhanced investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases.

In October 2023, Gov. Beshear announced that an additional $2.5 million from the DOJ had been awarded to the KSP SAKI investigative team to enhance its critical work by hiring additional personnel dedicated to testing sexual assault kits and improving sexual assault data collection to better identify predators. This funding was the second-largest award in the history of the commonwealth from the department's Bureau of Justice Assistance.

The KSP SAKI investigative team is a critical part of the Beshear-Coleman administration's broader efforts to combat violent crime and sexual assault. Those efforts also include the awarding of more than $160 million in grant funding to victim service agencies, the signing of Senate Bill 73, which makes sexual extortion a felony, and the enactment of House Bill 207, which strengthens protections that keep our kids free from abuse and sexual exploitation.

If you or someone you know is a victim of sexual violence, no matter when the violence took place, please contact one of Kentucky's 13 programs supporting all survivors of sexual assault. For more information please visit, Kentucky Association of Sexual Assault Programs or contact one of KSP's post locations.

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