A middle school teacher from Kentucky has been charged in Washington County with felony child exploitation following an undercover law enforcement sting on the Kik messaging app.
Elmer Mitchell Fields, 57, of Viper, Kentucky, faces one felony count of engaging in electronic communication describing sexual conduct with a child. According to court documents filed Friday, Fields is accused of transmitting sexually explicit messages, videos, and audio recordings to an undercover investigator who was posing as a 15-year-old girl.
The investigation began on July 28, when human trafficking investigators established an undercover profile on the Kik platform. The account received an initial outreach that same day from a user who identified himself as a 54-year-old married high school teacher and father who was home alone on break.
After the undercover operative explicitly stated her age as 15, the suspect allegedly shifted the conversation toward personal inquiries regarding her grade level, romantic relationships, and sexual history. The criminal complaint states that the exchanges quickly escalated into explicit descriptions of sexual acts accompanied by multimedia files sent by the user.
Investigators subsequently traced the activity to Fields, an educator employed within the Hazard Independent School District in Kentucky.
A subsequent search warrant executed on the Kik account revealed additional conversations with other users who claimed to be girls between the ages of 13 and 16, many of which also contained sexual content. Investigators noted that the account user discussed his professional schedule and school breaks, details that allegedly aligned with the official Hazard school district calendar. Law enforcement also reviewed a local news interview featuring Fields and matched his spoken voice to the audio files transmitted to the undercover profile.
On Oct. 28, local law enforcement in Kentucky served a search warrant at Fields’ residence, seizing multiple electronic devices including personal computers and cellphones. Authorities reported recovering specific physical items—including a massage gun and bedding—that allegedly matched objects visible in the explicit videos sent to the undercover officer.
Court records show that a nationwide arrest warrant has been issued for Fields, with officials emphasizing public safety concerns given his employment at a Kentucky middle school and his lack of personal or professional ties to Minnesota.
