A case that went cold for nearly three decades reached a legal conclusion Thursday, when Robert Shelton, now 61, was sentenced in Daviess Circuit Court for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in 1994. The victim, who spent years pushing for justice, appeared via Zoom to deliver a powerful statement about the lasting impact of the attack.
Shelton received a 10-year sentence in Daviess County after entering an “Alford plea” to kidnapping and sexual assault charges. He will serve that time concurrently, but the punishment comes on top of a 30-year sentence handed down in Spencer County, Indiana, where he pleaded guilty to rape stemming from the same incident. Together, Shelton faces 40 years in prison.
An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain innocence while acknowledging prosecutors likely have enough evidence to secure a conviction at trial.
The incident occurred in December 1994, when the victim was kidnapped near Brescia University, assaulted in Owensboro, then taken to Indiana, where the assault continued, authorities have previously said.
In 2022, detectives reopened the file and submitted evidence for renewed forensic testing. Authorities at the time said a DNA profile was developed and matched to Shelton through the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). Additional follow-up, including witness statements and comparisons with earlier reports, confirmed Shelton as the suspect.
Authorities said Shelton was living in North Carolina in 2022 but was a resident of Owensboro at the time of the incident. In 2023, Shelton was indicted in both Kentucky and Indiana, facing charges in each state for crimes tied to the same incident. That same year, Shelton was extradited from Indiana to Daviess County to face the local charges.
During Thursday’s sentencing, the victim, who was present via Zoom but had their camera off, gave an emotional and graphic account of the night she was abducted and assaulted, describing how Shelton threatened her with a knife, sexually assaulted her, and warned that he would find her if she ever went to the police.
“That night, Robert Shelton took from me what I would have never given to him naturally,” she said. “I have hated much of my life since that night. I hated my body, I hated myself, and have spent much of my life ashamed. I lived blaming myself.”
The victim continued, “I was given a lifetime of punishment while Robert Shelton lived 30 years of his life without consequence. He was too cowardly to face what he had done, while I was forced to face it every day.”
She told the court she still experiences flashbacks, nightmares, and chronic anxiety, but said she found strength in never letting the case fade into obscurity.
Speaking to Shelton, the victim said: “You said to me that night, ‘I will find you.’ I found you. And now I am not alone with you. Everyone in these proceedings sees you and who you are and what you did. … I will smile now when I think of you, knowing that I am the victor, that I did not stop until you were exposed.”
