Arrest made in 1978 Park Hills rape case

Cameron Knight | Cincinnati Enquirer

A Boone County cold case rape investigation dating back to 1978 resulted in an arrest in Georgia on Thursday.

Michael Dean Tate, 77, is charged with rape, sodomy and kidnapping.

The Boone County Sheriff's Office said it was a set of fingerprints collected from a car door more than 40 years ago that led to a break in the case.

In October 1978, a woman in her 20s was getting out of her car when a man grabbed her by the throat, threatening to kill her if she made any noise, officials said.

"The man shut the victim's car door and forced her into his car before driving to St. Joseph's Lane in Park Hills where the victim reported being raped and forced to perform other sex acts against her will for about the next two hours," according to the sheriff's office.

She went to police after the incident, and investigators were able to collect fingerprints from her car door.

Boone County detectives Timothy Adams and Coy Cox dove back into the case in 2017 while investigating an unsolved homicide that had similarities to the Park Hills offense. Those fingerprints from the car were submitted to a national computer database and were found to match Tate's.

Investigators traveled to meet with the victim, who no longer lives in the area, and to interview Tate.

"Tate admitted to having raped a woman in Kentucky that he'd grabbed from behind. Though he wasn't sure of the exact date," the sheriff's office reported. "Tate went on to admit to more sexual assaults in at least two additional states."

Additional investigations have been launched based on Tate's admissions.

Tate is being held on a $500,000 bond in the Union County Jail in Georgia awaiting extradition back to Kentucky, where he lived in the 1970s.

"This is some of the most amazing police work I've ever seen!" Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said. "I can't praise Sheriff Helmig and his team enough. They're fantastic!"