A man accused of sexually assaulting girls in two states over multiple decades was sentenced Friday to 19 years in an Ohio prison, although he still faces charges in Kentucky.
Authorities in Hamilton County charged William Blankenship with sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl, a 14-year-old girl and a woman between 1999 and 2001. The attacks happened in the area of Mount Washington and Anderson Township, within a two-mile radius, officials said.
Prosecutors said Blankenship, now 58, sought to sexually assault girls.
In the case of the woman he attacked, prosecutors said in court documents that he was targeting the woman's teenage daughter, who on the night of the incident happened to be spending the night at another location. The 37-year-old woman, in fact, found Blankenship in her daughter's bedroom, standing beside the girl's bed, "with her … clock radio in his hands." He had broken into the apartment.
In August 2001, according to court documents, Blankenship took the 10-year-old girl out of the pop-up trailer in her driveway where she was sleeping with friends. He then carried her into an open field and sexually assaulted her. Two months later, he sexually assaulted the 14-year-old girl in her bedroom.
In each case, according to prosecutors, he cleaned the victim afterward and threatened them to not report the attack to police.
Blankenship pleaded guilty Friday In Hamilton County Common Pleas Court to three counts of rape. Judge Terry Nestor imposed the 19-year prison sentence.
Genealogy site
To identify Blankenship, investigators started with DNA from decades-old rape kits.
Using the Y chromosome in that DNA – which passes down paternally – detectives reached out to a genealogy website to trace the DNA to Blankenship's family.
By tracking the DNA to that family, investigators were able to get a search warrant and test Blankenship directly.
Kentucky rape charges
Blankenship also faces charges in Northern Kentucky in the sexual assaults of three women and two girls. In addition, he is accused of having an illegal sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl.
All six alleged crimes occurred in Fort Thomas or Southgate, officials have said.
As part of his sentencing order Friday, Nestor said Blankenship "may go to Kentucky to answer for his charges there and may serve his time in Kentucky, if the Department of Corrections allows."
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