Concerned a rape suspect could flee, prosecutors asked Lexington judge to hike bond
A Fayette County judge on Wednesday declined to increase the bond for a man charged in three Lexington abductions and sexual assaults despite concerns from prosecutors that he would flee if he got out of jail.
George Wayne Aldridge, 52, was arrested on Feb. 4 and charged in three abductions and sexual assaults between 2009 and 2016, the Lexington Police Department said previously. Police said they used DNA technology “to connect the victims and identify the suspect.”
He appeared in court Wednesday after prosecutors asked that his bond be increased because they have evidence that he’s a flight risk. Prosecutors based their concern on a remark that Aldridge made to family during a phone call from jail.
“If I get out of here, I am leaving and not coming back,” Aldridge is alleged to have told his family while on a phone call from jail, prosecutors said in court documents.
Aldridge’s bond is currently set at $150,000. Prosecutors asked that it be increased above that amount, but did not provide specifics in court Wednesday as to what amount they wanted to be set.
Aldridge’s attorney, Edward Thompson, argued the context of his statement was that he “wanted to get out of Lawrenceburg,” which is where he lives, according to court documents.
District Judge Bruce Bell ruled the bond would remain the same. Aldridge was scheduled to have a preliminary hearing Wednesday, but elected to waive it. His case will be sent to a grand jury.
“(Aldridge) needs to realize that anything he says on a jail phone call stays,” Bell said. “Bond remains the same.”
Aldridge was still being held in the Fayette County Detention Center on three counts of kidnapping, two counts of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse, two counts of first-degree sodomy and one count of first-degree wanton endangerment.
