Former Kentucky teacher charged with rape involving student he met at school
A former teacher in Russell County has been charged with third-degree rape involving a student, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced Wednesday.
Hunter B. Lovell, 25, was indicted by a local grand jury. Lovell was a substitute teacher and assistant football coach, according to the news release.
Joe Irvin, police chief in Russell Springs, said Lovell met the victim at Russell County High School.
The investigation started when Russell Springs police officers on patrol spotted Lovell and the student together and checked on Lovell out of a concern that he was significantly older than the student and his vehicle had an out-of-state license plate.
The officers found Lovell was a teacher and contacted the students’ parents, Irvin said.
Irvin said the grand jury indicted Lovell, who lived in Adair County when the case started, with four charges of third-degree rape. That is a Class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison.
The alleged offenses happened between September and November 2019, Cameron said.
Irvin, detective Chasity Shirley and a cyber crimes investigator from Cameron’s office handled the case.
Police were attempting to serve an arrest warrant on Lovell Wednesday.
“Any individual who uses his or her position of authority to earn the trust of children and subsequently take advantage of them should be met with the full force of the law,” Cameron said in the release.
