A former Grayson County Middle School sixth grade teacher has been found guilty of child sex crimes.
John Cariel, 70, was found guilty of first-degree sexual abuse, third-degree sodomy and distribution of obscene matter to minors in a Grayson County courtroom after a three day trial.
The jury recommended a sentence of 10 years, the maximum allowed, according to Commonwealth’s Attorney Blake Chambers, who was designated a special prosecutor in the case. Chambers normally serves Ohio, Butler, Edmonson, and Hancock counties.
Cariel was arrested on May 15, 2018, after an investigation by the Leitchfield Police Department, with Det. Kevin Smith and then-Grayson County High School Resource Officer Ian Renfrow leading the inquiry.
He was indicted by a Grayson County Grand Jury in July 2018.
WARNING: GRAPHIC LANGUAGE AND DESCRIPTIONS BELOW
Cariel was found guilty of abusing multiple victims, according to Chambers, but below is the original charging document which led to the charges.
According to Cariel’s arrest citation:
- Renfrow received a report concerning a sexual encounter between Cariel and a juvenile under the age of 14 (the juvenile was 13 at the time of the offenses).
- Cariel, through his job as a sixth grade teacher, knew the victim and made initial contact with the victim via a social media-like application using his cellular device.
- Cariel was found to have sent photographs of his exposed genitalia to the juvenile victim. It was further found that a physical sexual act was performed in the parking lot of Major’s Trucking in Caneyville … around October 2017, where Cariel exposed his genitalia to the victim, then allowed the juvenile victim to perform oral sex on him. After oral sex was performed, the juvenile was exposed to Cariel as he knowingly masturbated in the presence of the juvenile victim.
Cariel, the arrest citation states, “admitted to each of the … allegations.”
Formal sentencing will take place in July.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
