Shelbyville Math Teacher Charged With 40 Counts of Child Sex Abuse Material

A math teacher at Martha Layne Collins High School in Shelbyville was arrested Monday afternoon and now faces 40 felony counts tied to the possession and distribution of child sexual abuse material. James Michael Powell, 41, was taken into custody around 2:09 p.m. following an undercover investigation by the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch, and he was booked into the Shelby County Detention Center.

According to WAVE News, the investigation into Powell began after a complaint from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Kentucky State Police say the probe was carried out by the Kentucky Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, which began after authorities detected online sharing of child sexual exploitation material, per the Kentucky State Police. Detectives with the ICAC Task Force conducted an undercover investigation before KSP detectives executed a search warrant at Powell's Shelbyville home on Monday, seizing electronic equipment that was sent to KSP's forensic laboratory for examination.

Police also served a search warrant at Martha Layne Collins High School, where Powell worked as a math teacher, according to the same WAVE News report. Shelby County Public Schools officials notified families about the allegations, and the district said the allegations are not connected to students at the school.

What the 40 Counts Actually Cover

Powell faces 40 counts in total, according to court documents cited by WAVE News. The Kentucky State Police break the charges into four categories: 10 Class C felony counts of distributing and 10 Class C felony counts of possessing child sexual abuse material depicting a minor under 12, plus 10 Class D felony counts of distributing and 10 Class D felony counts of possessing material depicting a minor under 18.

Under Kentucky Revised Statutes 531.335 and 531.340, Class C felony convictions carry five to 10 years in prison per count, while Class D felony convictions carry one to five years per count, according to the Legislative Research Commission. The cited law identifies offenses involving a minor under 12 as Class C felonies.

How Kentucky Oversees Teacher Misconduct Cases

Kentucky law gives the Education Professional Standards Board authority to suspend or revoke an educator's teaching certificate for listed conduct, including sexual contact with a student or minor, per FindLaw's summary of KRS 161.120; a criminal conviction is not required for discipline based on sexual contact. Separately, under Kentucky House Bill 300, enacted in July 2024, superintendents are required to report educator misconduct allegations to the EPSB within 30 calendar days. Kentucky Teacher describes a 30-day initial review for completed complaints generally, while KRS 161.120 gives EPSB staff up to 120 days for complaints alleging sexual contact or other sexual misconduct, according to Kentucky Teacher. That law was passed specifically to speed up state oversight of misconduct complaints involving educators.

It remains unclear whether Shelby County Public Schools has placed Powell on administrative leave or terminated his employment, what bond was set at his initial court appearance, or how long the forensic examination of the seized devices will take.

A Task Force Built for Cases Like This

The Kentucky Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force was created by the U.S. Department of Justice and is administered by Kentucky State Police, coordinating more than 26 local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies across the commonwealth to investigate digital child exploitation. The scale of the problem the task force is built to address is reflected in national numbers: the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's CyberTipline received 21.3 million reports of suspected child sexual exploitation in 2025, escalating more than 53,000 urgent or imminent-danger reports to law enforcement, according to data from MissingKids.org.

Martha Layne Collins High School opened in 2010 as part of Shelby County Public Schools and serves more than 1,100 students in grades 9 through 12. The school is named for Martha Layne Collins, a Shelby County native who served as Kentucky's 56th governor from 1983 to 1987 and remains the only woman to hold that office.