A former Kentucky teacher's aide has admitted to having sex with “multiple” teenage boys at the same time while working at an elementary school.
Ellen Phillips, 38, pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Lexington to attempting to solicit a minor to engage in sexual activity online. Phillips faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison.
According to her plea, Phillips had sex with multiple minors at the same time while working as a teacher's aide. The sexual assault allegations occurred in Boyle, Garrard and Rockcastle counties. According to the plea agreement, the victims were between 14 and 16 years old.
She is alleged to have used social media to contact minors for the purpose of sexual acts. Phillips reportedly communicated with the victim through Facebook, Snapchat and text messages.
Phillips, formerly known as Ellen Schell, allegedly tried to repeatedly convince a 15-year-old boy on December 22, 2022, to sneak out of his home to meet for sex. It is said that he admitted it.
Prosecutors claimed she used Facebook to try to force him out of the house. When the boy said he couldn't leave the house, she reportedly lured him into sneaking out of the house by offering him alcohol and oral sex. She also allegedly provided a flimsy excuse to tell her mother so he could leave the house, according to prosecutors.
The minor did not meet with the teacher's aide that night.
mother of one of the victims Said“These boys didn't know the laws that protected them and didn't want to come forward because they thought it would get them into trouble.”
The anonymous mother claimed her son told her that a teacher's assistant “brought alcohol three or four times.”
“I can't wrap my head around the extent of what she did,” she added.
Phillips was arrested in April 2023 after two minors (all 16 years old) came forward with charges of raping her on three separate occasions between July 6, 2022 and August 15, 2022. Ta.
The U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. statement“The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a national initiative launched by the Department of Justice in 2006 to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.”
Mr. Phillips is scheduled to be sentenced on April 26th.
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