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Kentucky detectives make arrest in 1978 rape case

Posted at 6:21 AM, Nov 17, 2019
and last updated 2019-11-17 06:23:23-05

PARK HILLS, Ky. (AP) — Authorities in Kentucky say they’ve arrested a man who raped a woman in 1978 and who may be responsible for other crimes.

News outlets report 77-year-old Michael Dean Tate was charged Thursday with rape, sodomy and kidnapping.

In October 1978, a woman told Park Hills police that a man grabbed her throat as she exited her car. She says he then kidnapped and raped her.

Boone County detectives Timothy Adams and Coy Cox reopened the case in 2017 while investigating a similar unsolved murder.

Adams and Cox ran fingerprints from the case, which matched Tate’s.

The pair interviewed Tate in Union City, Georgia, where authorities say he confessed to the rape and other sexual assaults.

Tate is awaiting extradition to Kentucky. It’s unclear whether he has an attorney.