KENTUCKY STATE POLICE SPECIAL UNIT ARREST ROWAN COUNTY, KY. COUPLE ON CHILD SEXUAL EXPLOITATION OFFENSES

A Rowan County, Kentucky man and woman who are husband and wife, and both of whom are operators of several Kentucky drug addiction treatment centers, and with both having been battling legal problems for most of 2024, have found themselves facing their most serious trouble yet, following a raid on their home Thursday by a state police special crime unit.

On Thursday, May 23, 2024, at approximately 2:22 P.M., the Kentucky State Police Electronic Crime Branch arrested John David Elam, 43, and Myra Patrice Elam, 43, of Morehead, KY., on charges related to a child sexual abuse material investigation.

John Elam & Myra Elam were located, interviewed, and arrested as the result of an undercover Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) investigation. The KSP Electronic Crime Branch began the investigation after discovering the suspects uploading sexually explicit videos of juveniles to an online social media account.

The investigation resulted in executing a search warrant for the couple and for their residence in Morehead, KY., on May 23, 2024. Equipment used to facilitate the crime was seized and taken to KSP’s forensic laboratory for examination. The investigation is still ongoing.

John Elam and Myra Elam are both charged with thirteen (13) counts of: *POSSESSION MATTER PORTRAYING SEXUAL PERFORMANCE BY MINOR UNDER/12 YEARS OF AGE; and two (2) counts of: *POSSESSION MATTER SEX PERFORMANCE BY MINOR OVER/12 YEARS OF AGE < 18 YEARS OF AGE – 1ST OFFENSE.

The charge of possessing matter portraying a minor under the age of 12 in a sexual performance is a Class-C felony punishable by five (5) to ten (10) years in prison. The charge of possessing matter portraying a minor over the age of 12 but under the age of 18 in a sexual performance is a Class-D felony punishable by one to five years in prison.

John David Elam was also charged with one count of: *POSSESSION OF FIREARM BY CONVICTED FELON. This charge is a Class-D felony as well and is punishable by one to five years in prison.

If convicted on all charges by a jury in a criminal trial, John David Elam could face a total of from sixty-eight (68) years to up to one hundred forty-five (145) years in state prison; while Myra Patrice Elam could face a total of from sixty-seven (67) years to up to one hundred-forty (140) years in state prison. As if that is not enough trouble for the couple, there is a substantial chance they both could be indicted at the U.S. federal levels on those same child sex exploitation materials offenses.

 

John David Elam and Myra Patrice Elam were transported to and lodged in the Rowan County Detention Center in Morehead, where they are both being held separately on one-hundred fifty thousand ($150,000) full cash bond only each .

The Kentucky Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force is comprised of more than twenty-six local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. The mission of the ICAC Task Force, created by the United States Department of Justice and administrated by the Kentucky State Police, is to assist state and local law enforcement agencies in developing a response to cyber enticement and child sexual abuse material investigations. This support encompasses forensic and investigative components, training and technical assistance, victim services, prevention and community education. The ICAC program was developed in response to the increasing number of children and teenagers using the internet, the proliferation of child sexual abuse material, and the heightened online activity of predators searching for unsupervised contact with underage victims.

John Elam, and Myra Elam, are respectively listed as the operating officer and registered agent for Edgewater Recovery, which is headquartered in Morehead, with treatment centers in Morehead, Flemingsburg, Pikeville and Paducah.

In February 2024, Edgewater Recovery resolved a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging the company routinely required clients to submit to unnecessary urine tests on a weekly basis. The lawsuit was dismissed, but terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Around that same time (February 3), John Elam was arrested for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of a controlled substance, and Myra Elam was arrested  with him for Public Intoxication on a Controlled Substance. Both of these cases remain pending in Rowan County District Court, for which both just recently inducted on; and those charges were added with their new criminal woes for the couple.