Teacher Who Asked Student to Kill Husband Sentenced for Sexual Abuse After Murder-for-Hire Acquittal

The charges came after the pair allegedly had explicit sexual contact at the Adair County Juvenile Detention Centre in Kentucky. Elena Bardin, 28, who worked as an English teacher at the facility, was not found guilty of soliciting the 17-year-old to kill her 49-year-old husband.

The defendant was arrested in April after authorities found 193 sexually explicit letters and photos that she'd allegedly sent the minor. The items were found during a routine search of his room at the lock-up facility on March 27, according to Local 12 and News 18.

"The letters you sent, which they were juicy, they were things you'd see in a triple-x movie, and completely inappropriate, obviously, and I think you know that for a young man that age," said Circuit Judge Samuel Spalding at last Thursday's sentencing, as reported by the New York Post. "And for an educator, it was incumbent upon you to set a better example."

"I will say though, the 193 pages of letters, pictures, everything else, it depicts a very intelligent and articulate young woman who was clearly articulating her thoughts and desires to this kid," he continued.

In one letter read out in court, Bardin allegedly urged the boy to hide her letters and photos she'd had developed at Walmart to avoid them being found during searches of his cell. "I can't be classified as an effing pedophile," read the officer on the stand from one letter, as recorded by the Herald-Leader.

He noted that Bardin had admitted to having sexual intercourse with the student in one of the letters, reminding her of her supervisor's testimony that they had told Bardin to stop the relationship and stay away from the teen, who was relocated to another part of the detention center.

"And ma’am, not only did you not heed that advice and stop," Spalding said in court, "it looks to me like you actually doubled down on the behavior after that, and that is concerning."

According to prosecutor Brian Wright, Bardin had talked with the victim about her wish to have her husband murdered by him or one of his friends back home in Louisville, per the Herald-Leader. He alleged that she wanted out of her marriage, but didn't want to have to split marital assets or share custody of their 5-year-old daughter.

In one letter read out in court, Bardin wrote, "I know you say you’ll take care of him, but shouldn’t someone else do it to take the suspicion away from you?"

Defense attorney Steve Romines, though, argued that there was no hard evidence that these conversations, in person or in letters, were ever more than just jokes, which is what Bardin had said they were. He also told the jury that the boy was grooming Bardin as much as she was grooming him, noting that the teen is facing an unrelated murder charge.

Bardin, though, testified in court that he eventually did come to believe that she was serious about wanting her husband eliminated, per the Herald-Leader, but he never had any intentions of acting on her requests. In fact, he described their relationship as "just an amusing way to kill time while he was locked up."

Her husband, meanwhile, filed for divorce a month after her arrest, with People noting Bardin now facing a legal case over visitation rights with their 5-year-old. She will also be required to register as a sex offender for 20 years.

If you are experiencing or witness child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. If you believe a child is in immediate danger, call 911.