Police: Kentucky teacher had sexual contact with minor, asked him to kill her husband
Police have charged a Kentucky school teacher with giving sexually explicit material to a male juvenile and soliciting him to kill her husband.
Kentucky State Police arrested Elena Bardin, 27, of Columbia on Wednesday, according to a news release.
Police said workers at the Adair Regional Juvenile Detention Center did a routine search of juveniles’ living quarters on March 27 and found letters and explicit material in one teen’s belongings, allegedly sent by an Adair County teacher assigned to the center.
The center notified the state police.
Detectives found evidence that Bardin subjected the boy to illegal sexual contact, provided him with explicit images of herself and solicited him to kill her husband, state police said.
Police charged Bardin with solicitation to commit murder, first-degree sexual abuse and distribution of obscene material to a minor, according to a release.
The Adair County school district listed Bardin, with her first name spelled Elana, as a teacher at the Adair Learning Academy, which is part of the Adair Youth Development Center.
The youth development center operates in conjunction with the regional juvenile detention center, according to the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice.
Adair Superintendent Jason Faulkner told the Herald-Leader Bardin was an employee of the district, but said Thursday that she had been terminated.
This story was originally published April 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM.
