Holly MatkinDanville, KY – A Kentucky teacher’s aide has been charged with multiple felony rape charges after she allegedly had sex with two 16=year-old boys on several occasions last summer.
Ellen Shell, 38, was working as a teacher’s aide at Woodlawn Elementary School when the sexual assaults occurred, the mother of one of the victims told WOLF.
Prior to that, she was employed in Garrard County at Lancaster Elementary School, according to WLEX.
Court documents alleged Shell had “sexual intercourse on three occasions with two 16-year-old boys” between July 6, 2022, and Aug. 15, 2022.
The mother of one of the victims said she and Shell went to high school together and that their children grew up with one another, WOLF reported.
“She had sex with my son in august 2022,” the woman told WOLF in a text. “He had just turned 16.”
The mother said Shell also purchased alcohol for her son and the other victim on three or four occasions.
“These boys are not aware of the laws that protect them and would not come forward because they thought they would be in trouble,” she told WOLF. “I can’t wrap my mind around the extent of what she’s done.”
The Garrard County Sheriff’s Office arrested Shell on April 12 on three counts of third-degree rape.
She was booked into the Jessamine County Detention Center at 1:25 p.m., WOLF reported.
Boyle County Superintendent Mike LaFavers issued a letter to parents and guardians on the day of Shell’s arrest advising that a school employee had been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of a law enforcement investigation.
“At Boyle County Schools we value to the highest degree the safety of all our students,” LaFavers wrote. “Rest assured we are monitoring the situation so that we can continue creating the safest learning environment for our students.”
