KY school district: Students can opt out of photos after vendor’s alleged Epstein link

Laurel County Public Schools officials on Monday told parents they could contact their child’s school to opt out of spring picture day after widespread online claims linked the vendor to the late sex offender Jeffery Epstein.

Meanwhile, parents in the district started a petition to replace the vendor, Lifetouch, with a local photographer.

“When questions arise surrounding corporate leadership or national controversy, even if indirectly connected, that trust is eroded,” the petition reads.

The petition had more than 125 signatures as of Monday night.

According to an Associated Press report, several school districts nationwide have canceled spring picture day after online claims linked photography giant Lifetouch, which photographs millions of children every year, to an investment fund manager called Apollo Global Management. The fund’s former CEO, billionaire investor Leon Black, met regularly with Epstein and was named more than 8,000 times in a bevy of new documents released this month by the U.S. Department of Justice.

Black stepped down as CEO of Apollo in 2021, but he was leading the fund in 2019, when Apollo bought Lifetouch’s parent company, Shutterfly, according to AP. The deal closed one month after Epstein’s death by suicide behind bars as he awaited trial for allegations of sexually abusing and trafficking dozens of girls.

No evidence of Epstein or anyone in his orbit seeing Lifetouch photos has emerged from news organizations’ review of the documents, though there are at least 1.7 million records, according to AP.

Lifetouch Group CEO Ken Murphy said in a statement Friday the claims were “completely false,” and he assured school districts that no student photographs had been distributed to third parties.

“Lifetouch is not named in the Epstein files. The documents contain no allegations that Lifetouch itself was involved in, or that student photos were used in, any illicit activities,” Murphy said.

In Laurel County, district officials wrote on Facebook Monday that they were “aware” of the recent Associated Press report.

They noted that Lifetouch remains their school photo vendor, and elementary schools in the district have sessions scheduled in the coming weeks. Parents who do not wish for their child’s picture to be taken should contact their child’s school directly, the district said.

On Tuesday, a Lifetouch spokesperson reiterated in a statement that the claims about Lifetouch being connected to Epstein are “completely false.”

“No Lifetouch executives have ever had any relationship or contact with Epstein and we have never shared student images with any third party, including Apollo,” the company’s statement said. “Apollo and its funds also have no role in Lifetouch’s daily operations and have no access to student images.

“In fact, Apollo funds did not acquire Shutterfly, Lifetouch’s parent company, until September 2019 — two months after Epstein was put in jail and a month after Epstein’s death.”

This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 5:00 AM.