Kentucky State Police Detectives Arrest Texas Man in Connection to 36-Year-Old Hardin County Sexual Assault Investigation
ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. (June 18, 2026) – A decades-old sexual assault investigation has led to an arrest, thanks to the persistence of Kentucky State Police (KSP) detectives and advancements in forensic technology.
KSP Post 4 announce the arrest of Alberto Campirano, 66, of Texas, in connection with a 36-year-old sexual assault cold case in Hardin County that occurred in 1990 involving a young wife and mother who was home alone with her children when Campirano allegedly entered her home and raped her.
In 2022, KSP Post 4 and the Sexual Assault Initiative (SAKI) Investigative Team began evaluating cases for potential retesting.
Campirano was charged with a sex crime in Texas in 2012 and convicted in 2014, and KSP was able to retest DNA obtained from that arrest.
In May of this year, a match in the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) was made from the DNA analysis KSP was retesting, identifying Campirano as a suspect in the open sexual assault case from 1990. On June 11, 2026, the Hardin County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office presented the case to a grand jury, which indicted Campirano on charges of first-degree rape, first-degree sodomy and first-degree burglary.
Yesterday, KSP Post 4 Detective Casey Keown and SAKI Detective Janet Barnett traveled to Crystal City, Texas, where they were assisted by the Texas Rangers Division Company D and the Zavala County Sheriff’s Office in apprehending Campirano. He is currently awaiting extradition to Kentucky.
“I’ve been working cases that are older than I am,” said Detective Keown. “No matter how many years have passed, bringing justice to these victims is my main priority.”
“This is a shining example of law enforcement partners pooling resources to bring closure to victims,” said Detective Barnett. “KSP continuously works to solve these cases, no matter how many years go by. We are determined to seek justice, even when it is delayed.”
On May 7, Gov. Beshear announced the KSP received more than $172,000 in federal grant funding to continue the commonwealth’s ongoing work to provide justice to survivors and victims of sexual offenses in the commonwealth through the SAKI.
The federal funding received by KSP originated from the Bureau of Justice Assistance and will enhance the KSP SAKI investigative team’s critical work to analyze sexual assault kits and identify suspects through DNA testing. The team, which was created by the Governor in July 2021, works to leverage existing resources to investigate and identify sexual offenders. The team works with victims, law enforcement partners, prosecutors and community partners to provide enhanced investigation and prosecution of sexual assault cases.
Since its creation, the KSP SAKI team has received more than $4.8 million in federal grant funding, including $1.5 million in 2021, more than $840,000 in 2022 and $2.5 million in 2023. The 2023 grant award was the second-largest award in the history of the commonwealth from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.
Gov. Beshear has been committed to supporting victims and ending Kentucky’s sexual assault kit backlog since his time as Attorney General. This was a priority for Beshear during his time in the Attorney General’s Office, and he took several steps to provide justice for sexual assault victims, including: · Creating the Office of Child Abuse and Human Trafficking Prevention and Prosecution.
· Providing $4.5 million in settlement money to lawmakers to fund requested KSP crime lab upgrades
· Providing $1 million to aid law enforcement and prosecutors in conducting victim-centered investigations and prosecuting sexual assault offenders.
· Creating the Survivors Council to advise and assist his office on matters related to victims of crime.
· Hiring a victim advocate, investigator, prosecutor and SAKI coordinator in the Office of the Attorney General.
· Establishing a Cold Case Unit to address cases that have gone years without closure and later receiving a $1.4 million grant to further expand the unit.
Beshear brought this dedication into the Governor’s Office. His administration’s top priority is the safety of all Kentuckians. The Governor’s public safety actions are creating safer communities and a better Kentucky.
Since taking office, the Beshear-Coleman administration has awarded $187 million in grant funding to victim service agencies across the commonwealth. Gov. Beshear has also signed legislation to make sexual extortion a felony and strengthened statutory language to include other forms of abuse and sexual exploitation of minors.
Last week, Gov. Beshear further protected Kentuckians by signing legislation to establish the offense of grooming to better protect Kentucky children and hold offenders accountable, to formalize the role of a statewide Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner coordinator to strengthen the state’s response to sexual assault cases and better support survivors, and to enhance the state’s stalking laws by broadening the scope covered under the law to include social media and more.
Protecting the commonwealth’s schools are a top priority of Team Kentucky. In August, the Governor announced that 1,315 Kentucky public schools are following statutory safety requirements required by the School Safety and Resiliency Act and that the number of school resource officers protecting schools has increased more than 100% since he took office.
Since Gov. Beshear took office, fewer Kentuckians have returned to prison after their release. In February, the Governor announced that recidivism rates in the commonwealth have decreased for two years in a row, meaning that nearly 70% of those released from state custody have not returned. To build on this progress, Gov. Beshear recently signed House Bill 5, which provides the framework to create Kentucky’s first reentry campus, focused on increased public safety and boosting the state’s workforce.
The 2024 Crime in Kentucky Report, released in June 2025, shows that, from 2023 to 2024, there was an overall decrease of 7.66% in reports of serious crime.
For four straight years, overdose deaths have decreased in Kentucky. In 2025, the commonwealth saw 22.9% fewer overdose deaths than the year prior.
In 2023, the Governor signed Senate Bill 79 establishing the Safe at Home Program, which protects the residential addresses of survivors of domestic violence and other sexual crimes as well as the addresses of those who reside in the same household as the victim. Gov. Beshear also signed legislation in 2023 that doubled the weekly amount available for crime victims for lost wages to $300 per week from $150 per week; increased the amount available for funeral expenses to $7,500 from $5,000 and increased the overall total award available to $30,000 from $25,000.
Editor’s Note- Photo: Left to right- Company D Texas Ranger Enrique Ornelas, KSP Detective Casey Keown, KSP Detective Janet Barnett, Texas Ranger Nathan Mutz, Lieutenant RIcardo Guajardo and Sgt Investigator Frank Picazo- Zavala County Sheriff’s Office
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