Nearly a year after Kentucky State Police arrested Jason Shelby – a former Murray High School teacher who was being investigated for alleged sexual relations with a former student – he entered on Tuesday a special type of guilty plea in the criminal case against him.
Shelby was arrested last year on charges of third-degree rape and first-degree sexual abuse following a seven-year KSP investigation into allegations that he had an inappropriate relationships with some students. At the time of his arrest, KSP said a woman told detectives Shelby had a sexual relationship with her in 2008 and 2009, when she was 15 and 16.
According to the Murray Ledger & Times, Shelby entered an Alford plea on both criminal charges on Tuesday in Calloway Circuit Court. When someone enters this form of plea, they maintain their innocence on the crimes they are accused of – but acknowledge that prosecutors likely have enough evidence to convince a jury to convict them. Like other guilty pleas, defendants waive their right to a trial and are still subject to the punishments of the criminal charges they are facing.
KSP opened its investigation into Shelby in 2018, after the agency received a report from Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board alleging possible sexual relations between the then-Murray High School teacher and at least two students. No criminal charges were filed at that time. However, Shelby did resign from his teaching post in October 2018.
One of Shelby’s former students accused him of “predatory sexual grooming” dating back to when she was a Murray High School student in 2005. The alumna also claimed district officials failed to take the allegations against Shelby seriously when she brought it to officials’ attention in 2013.
Shelby also owned a company that provided band uniforms and drill writing services to Murray High School’s marching band in recent years, including after Shelby resigned from his teaching post at the school. Following Shelby’s arrest last year, the group’s then-director resigned after Murray Independent Schools superintendent David Meinschein said the band leader failed to follow multiple district directives not to use Shelby’s services.
The Murray Ledger & Times reports that prosecutors are recommending Shelby serve five years in prison. Judge Andrea Moore said Shelby will also be subject to being on the sex offender registry for life. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 2.
