Woman upset church rented home to sex offender she says raped her daughter
By Caton Bredar
WAVE3-TV Louisville, KY
(see video)
Dec. 3, 2007
LOUISVILLE (WAVE) -- A Jeffersontown man is charged with raping an 18-year-old mentally challenged woman. The man, Kenneth Brightman, had a record of sexual assault, but was allowed to move into a home owned by the First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown. Brightman volunteered at the church, often working with children. The alleged victim's mother spoke out to WAVE 3's Caton Bredar in the hopes of keeping it from happening again.
The alleged victim's mother says she thought she was being a good neighbor when she invited her neighbor, Kenny Brightman, over for Thanksgiving dinner. The man had once been homeless and now lived nearby, in a home owned by the church down the street from her house. She says it was in that tidy white house on Old Taylorsville Road that the crime happened.
"From what she said, he grabbed her arm and pulled her all the way over there," the victim's mom told WAVE 3. "He wouldn't let her leave. That's where the rape took place."
J'town Police Chief Richard Sanders says 38-year-old Brightman knew of his alleged victim's mental limitations.
"We have reason to believe he was well aware of her mental capacity and went ahead and committed the act anyway," Sanders said.
"She really looks like she's 13 or 14," her mom explained. "She doesn't look like an 18-year-old. The thing that upsets me is that he knows that. He knows she has a disability."
Chief Sanders added that it was the victim's disability, in large part, that led to the charge of first degree rape.
"Eighteen years old is old enough to give consent," Sanders said. "However, mentally, she's not of that age."
According to court records, Brightman was previously sentenced to five years prison for first degree sexual abuse. It's a fact the victim's mother feels the church should have known about before it allowed him to move in to the house and the neighborhood.
"I would assume they wouldn't let just anyone live there," she said, asking why they wouldn't complete background checks before allowing him to work at the church with children.
"I still can't believe it's happened," she added. "You know, you take measures, you try and ensure your child's safety ... he's taken the innocence from my daughter and it's not right."
We contacted Greg Downs, a deacon at First Baptist Church of Jeffersontown. He declined to comment.
Brightman will appear again in court on December 13.