Kentucky teaching aide Ellen Phillips – who is charged with raping nine boys aged 14 to 16

A teaching assistant who admitted sexually assaulting several teenage boys has made ‘I Love Hot Moms’ stickers and shirts for them, DailyMail.com can exclusively reveal.

Ellen Phillips, 39, who is charged in both federal and state courts, faces a minimum of 10 years in prison.

She has pleaded guilty in federal court to enticing a minor to engage in sexual conduct online, while admitting that she had simultaneously engaged in sexual activity with multiple minors.

The mother of two, from Danville, Kentucky, also faces five counts of rape, five counts of sodomy and one count of tampering with evidence.

Other charges were dropped following her guilty federal plea.

The charges involve several boys, ages 14 to 16, spread across three counties in the Bluegrass State.

A parent of one of her alleged victims branded Phillips a “sexual predator” and told DailyMail.com that she would make t-shirts and car stickers for the boys that read “I <3 Hot Moms."

‘To me that is a grooming stamp of evil. It makes me sick. It was also a fad at the time, a joke, and she also made it for her son, but giving it to the older boys was terrible.’

‘She certainly focused on the more vulnerable children. But some parents felt the boys were old enough to make their own decisions, and many of them did not want to talk to police.

‘A lot of them were angry that one of the youngest, he was fourteen, had told his mother when she asked him. Others begged their parents to keep it a secret and some did. They’re just children.

‘Most of them were part of a group of friends, and a few she met through her daughter, who is the same age as the boys, or through the school system.

‘It was even claimed that one of the boys she was dating had previously dated her daughter, which is how she met him.

‘I feel sorry for her, it’s heartbreaking. I hate it for her.”

The source alleged that in the summer of 2022, Phillips brutally led several boys into the parking lot during a dirt race at Rockcastle and performed sex acts on them at the same time.

She admitted trying to bribe the boys with booze and chewing tobacco, with one concerned parent telling DailyMail.com: ‘I can’t even imagine the scenario of how this unfolded. What young boy wouldn’t gangbang a woman who gave him alcohol and dip.

‘I don’t think the boys realize what they’ve been through. Personally, I want her to be convicted of rape for what she did.

“Parents in the area who have younger children agree with me that she should be locked up. But there were several who felt the boys were old enough to make their own decisions.

‘Some of them had been in relationships with her for more than two years and kept it secret because they thought they might get into trouble.

The parents asked for guidance for the boys. “They haven’t had much support through this, and I know at least one of them was a virgin when this all started happening.

‘The boys don’t know what impact this will have on them in the future, I feel like my son is a completely different child.

“Parents here are conditioned to be narrow-minded. I think if she was a male teacher this would have a very different reaction.”

Details of Phillips’ behavior came to light after images of her performing a sex act with an underage boy were circulated online, leading a mother to confront her teenage son.

The teacher’s assistant is currently going through the process of officially changing her married name Shell back to her maiden name Phillips as of January 1, according to documents seen by DailyMail.com.

Her ex-husband Giles Shell — brother of Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Jonathan Shell — filed for divorce in August 2022, eight months after Phillips is accused of first attacking one of her victims.

Shell, 39, cited “irreconcilable differences” in the divorce and has since made several TikTok videos with veiled comments about the situation, calling his ex-wife a “cheater” and himself a single father.

When contacted by DailyMail.com, he declined to comment on the situation, adding: ‘I intend to talk about my situations and experiences on my own platform, in my own time, when my children are well prepared are.’

Phillips was initially arrested in April 2023, when two minors came forward claiming she raped them three times between July 6 and August 15, 2022, when they were 16.

She was placed on administrative leave by Woodlawn Elementary School in Danville. She had previously worked at Lancaster Elementary School in Garrard County.

After her release from jail during the investigation, she worked at a local gas station and was arrested again in December by the Garrard County Sheriff’s Department. She remains in the Clark County Detention Center awaiting sentencing in April.

Two charges of rape and three of sodomy were dropped against Phillips in Garrard County following her guilty plea in federal court.

As part of her plea deal, prosecutors said they would consider dropping the other charges against the former teacher.

She still faces five counts of rape, five counts of sodomy and one count of tampering with evidence in Rockcastle and Boyle counties.

As part of her plea deal, she admitted that she communicated with the victims on Snapchat, Facebook and by text message and then often met them to have sex.

She admitted in one instance that on December 20, 2022, she repeatedly tried to persuade a 15-year-old boy to sneak out of his house to meet her for sex.

When the boy told her he couldn’t get out because his mother was awake, Phillips offered him alcohol and oral sex and suggested excuses he could give his mother. The boy told her he couldn’t leave to meet her.

The investigation was initially launched by the Garrard County Sheriff, along with Homeland Security, Kentucky State Police and Danville Police Department, who jointly announced Phillips’ plea deal.

Phillips will be sentenced on April 26 and faces a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison.