Kentucky Teacher Convicted of Having Sexual Contact with Her Teenage Student, Acquitted of Plotting Husband’s Murder

The trial of a Kentucky woman accused of sexually abusing a student at a juvenile detention facility and then soliciting the teenager to kill her husband has come to an end in September.

As previously reported, Elena Bardin, 28, was arrested in April after police accused the married mother of molesting an incarcerated teen at the Adair Juvenile Detention Center – where she was assigned – and then asking the boy to murder her 49-year-old husband.

Barden was Accused of Sending the Victim ‘Explicit Material,’ Touched the Boy’s Genitals

A search conducted on the juveniles’ living units on March 27 turned up letters and “explicit material” reportedly sent by Bardin. The material was immediately confiscated, and authorities were contacted.

She was initially charged with three counts of sexual abuse, solicitation of murder and distribution of obscene material. The sexual abuse counts each involved an incident when she touched the minor’s genitals, according to a bill of particulars filed in the case.

After her arrest, three additional counts of unlawful transaction with a minor were added to the charges she faced, alleging that she caused the minor to engage in unlawful sexual activity.

In the end, the jury convicted her on three counts — one count of sexual abuse, one count of unlawful transaction with a minor and distribution of obscene material. She was acquitted of the murder (solicitation) charges.

The conviction came after a two-day trial during which the defendant’s estranged husband Michael Bardin and the alleged victim both took the stand to testify for the prosecution. Bardin declined to testify in her own defense and her attorneys called no witnesses at trial.

Bardin Faces a Sentence of 14 Years in Prison

Bardin is now set to be sentenced on Nov. 13, with the jury recommending she be sentenced to four years for the sexual abuse charge and 10 years for the unlawful transaction charge — and that those be consecutive sentences.

Her lawyer has already filed a motion announcing that he will object to the verdict at the sentencing hearing and request a new trial or acquittal on all charges. Bardin’s attorney also claims in that motion that the minor who is accusing his client of these crimes has been inconsistent in his recollection of the alleged incidents.

The other court battle Bardin is now facing involves visitation with her 5-year-old child after her husband filed for divorce one month after her arrest. That case is ongoing.