A former teacher’s aide pleaded in federal court to having “numerous” sexual interactions with young boys while working at an elementary school in Kentucky, the United States. According to the New York Post, Ellen Phillips, 38, pleaded guilty on Friday to attempting to persuade a juvenile to engage in sexual activity online. Her victims were boys aged 14 to 16. She admitted to the judge that she would occasionally have intercourse with many boys at the same time. “Phillips would communicate with the victims via Snapchat, Facebook, or text messaging and, in many instances, would meet the victims to engage in sexual activity,” according to a statement released by federal prosecutors.
She also “specifically admitted that on December 20, 2022, she attempted to entice a 15-year-old minor to engage in sexual activity. In this conversation, Phillips messaged the victim using Facebook and repeatedly attempted to get the victim to sneak out of his house for sexual activity,” the statement added.
These boys are not aware of the laws that protect them and would not come forward because they thought they would be in trouble
According to the press statement, when the youngster told her he couldn’t go, she offered him booze and oral sex in exchange for sneaking out. It further stated that the 38-year-old offered the victim explanations to tell his mother about why he had to leave the house. According to Fox 56, one of the victims’ mothers attended high school with Phillips and raised their children together. “These boys are not aware of the laws that protect them and would not come forward because they thought they would be in trouble,” she said.
Her son told her that the 38-year-old brought them alcohol three or four times. “I can’t wrap my mind around the extent of what she’s done,” she told me. Ellen Phillips was arrested in April 2023 after two juveniles claimed she had raped them on three consecutive occasions. She now faces a minimum of ten years and a maximum life in jail. State prosecutors will explore dropping charges in light of Phillips’ federal guilty plea. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse,” the agency said in a statement.