[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
What a series of twists and turns…
A young Kentucky teacher, 28-year-old Elena Bardin (pictured above in her mugshot), has been convicted of sexually abusing a teenage boy who was incarcerated in a juvenile detention center. And prosecutors say her twisted relationship with the teen actually went even farther beyond that.
According to court records obtained by multiple outlets, Bardin was an English teacher at the Adair Juvenile Detention Center in Columbia, Kentucky where she first met the underage boy she would reportedly go on to manipulate and sexually abuse. And then, what apparently began as an inappropriate relationship between teacher and student spiraled into something more dangerous after Bardin allegedly encouraged the teen to help her plot the murder of her husband, 49-year-old Michael Bardin.
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Per the Lexington Herald Leader and other local outlets in the Bluegrass State, authorities say their investigation began after a sweep of the facility back on March 27 uncovered explicit letters and materials in the boy’s possession. Prosecutors claimed those letters revealed a disturbing plan in which Elena allegedly asked the boy to kill her husband so she could escape her marriage without losing custody of her young daughter or splitting their marital assets.
A Kentucky State Police press release from April stated that Elena had allegedly touched the boy inappropriately, too:
“KSP Post 15 Detectives discovered evidence that Elena Bardin, 27 [now 28], of Columbia, solicited a male juvenile to kill her husband. Evidence also revealed that Ms. Bardin had subjected the juvenile to illegal sexual contact and provided him with sexually explicit images of herself.”
In one of the letters police discovered, Bardin allegedly wrote:
“I know you say you’ll take care of him [the husband], but shouldn’t someone else do it to take the suspicion away from you?”
Investigators also found a diary belonging to Bardin, in which she allegedly mentioned the idea of killing her husband again.
In that diary, she described how the boy had supposedly brought up the possibility of “getting rid” of her husband — and how she responded:
“[The boy] would make comments verbally and in writing about ‘getting rid’ of my husband. I would ask him what he meant. He was always very adamant that if he ever did anything criminal again, he would do it alone.”
Elena was then arrested on multiple charges in April. Those charges included solicitation of murder, first degree sexual abuse, and the distribution of obscene material due to the photos of Elena and explicit messages that detention center deputies found in the young man’s possession.
She went to trial on those charges last month. During the trial, her defense attorney tried to downplay her comments and diary, claiming they were not serious and that the boy took them lightly. But the Herald Leader reported that the content of those letters was enough to horrify the courtroom, and raise questions about how this relationship was allowed to develop inside the secure facility.
Throughout her trial, Bardin did not take the stand, and no witnesses were called in her defense. But the victim — whose name has been withheld because he is a minor — did testify. On the stand, he recounted their inappropriate relationship and the abuse he endured.
Prosecutors painted Bardin as a woman who used her position of authority to exploit a vulnerable teen, and the jury agreed. They found her guilty of the sexual abuse charges but acquitted her on the solicitation of murder count. Now, she faces a sentencing hearing on November 13. Per the US Sun and others, jurors have recommended that she serve a total of 14 years in prison.
Per multiple outlets, her husband has since filed for divorce and requested sole custody of their five-year-old daughter.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence and would like to learn more about resources, consider checking out https://www.rainn.org/resources.
[Image via Adair County Regional Jail]
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