‘Ruined his life.’ Former Ky. teacher sentenced for trying to meet 14-year-old for sex

A former Kentucky school teacher who tried to meet a 14-year-old girl for sex has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

Kevin O’Donnell, 26, pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted online enticement of a minor.

The person O’Donnell communicated with online, who he thought was a 14-year-old girl, was actually an undercover officer.

O’Donnell grew up in northern Indiana and came to Louisville in 2020 through the AmeriCorps Teach Kentucky program to work as a science teacher in a middle school, according to a sentencing memorandum by his attorney.

Court documents say O’Donnell also was a coach. He worked in the Jefferson County school system until shortly before he was charged last February.

The investigation started when an officer of the U.S. Secret Service and O’Donnell made contact online, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

O’Donnell turned the conversation to sex, telling the person he thought was a girl about different things he wanted to do, according to the affidavit.

Police arrested O’Donnell when he showed up at a house the undercover officers were using, according to the affidavit.

As officers were taking him to an office to interview him, O’Donnell commented that he “had ruined his life and made a bad decision tonight,” according to the statement.

O’Donnell claimed he wasn’t really going to have sex with the girl, but admitted he sent messages indicating he wanted to engage in sexual acts.

“O’Donnell’s sexual interest in children and willingness to act on those interests are troubling and indicative of his dangerousness,” the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jo E. Lawless, said in a sentencing memo.

The Secret Service, the FBI and the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office investigated the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, an effort to combat child sexual exploitation and abuse.

In a 2022 series, the Herald-Leader found that sexual misconduct was the reason most Kentucky teachers lost their license.