During the course of at least three decades, William Blankenship is accused of committing acts of stalking and harassing women and young girls in the counties of Hamilton and Campbell by breaking into their houses and raping them unlawfully.
Blankenship, aged 59, received a 50-year prison sentence in Campbell County Circuit Court on Wednesday, part of which will be served concurrently with a 19-year sentence he is already serving in Ohio, as per Cincinnati.
Serial Rapist Blankenship Faces Justice
Blankenship, the 59-year-old serial rapist, faced the repercussions of his horrible actions in both Ohio and Kentucky over several years in a courtroom scene. In February 2023, reached the end of a legal dispute that originated in 2021 when facing charges of rape and sexual assault from 1987.
Between the years 1999 and 2011, Blankenship was responsible for the sexual assault of a mother as well as two children on many times. According to the investigators, the offenses, which were initially detected in Hamilton County and northern Kentucky, spurred them to investigate his background, which ultimately led to more charges and convictions. The prosecution believes that every aspect of his illegal activity extends beyond the cases that were revealed during the trial.
The court proceedings disclosed Blankenship's apology to his victims, with some of them in presence during the sentencing in front of Judge Julie Reinhardt Ward. One of the troubling revelations was that, along with the forced rapes, Blankenship was involved in an unlawful sexual relationship with a young teenage girl for ten years, beginning in 1989 when she was only 13. The prosecutors detailed how Blankenship targeted vulnerable victims, specifically focusing those who came from broken homes, according to WLWT.
Blankenship Linked to Decades-Old Rape Cases
Throughout the investigation, DNA testing was essential in connecting Blankenship to unresolved rape cases spanning more than three decades. Michelle Snodgrass, the Campbell County Commonwealth Prosecutor, has verified that they examined over three decades of unsolved cases to identify any links to Blankenship.
The victims, many of whom did not know Blankenship, bravely spoke out during the court hearings, shedding light on the trauma they endured. Two of the six victims were juveniles, with ages ranging from 12 to 14. Similar to the Ohio cases, Blankenship was accused of breaking into Kentucky homes to assault his victims.
As Blankenship begins his 50-year sentence in a Kentucky prison, the possibility of parole after 20 years looms. Commonwealth Attorney Snodgrass emphasized the strength of the survivors, commending their courage in coming forward during a different era when sexual assault victims faced additional challenges.
The impact of Blankenship's actions was evident as victims recounted difficulties sleeping and trusting others. As the legal chapter comes to a close, the hope is that justice serves as a form of closure for those who have endured years of pain and suffering at the hands of this serial rapist, Fox19 reported
