Kentucky teacher charged in alleged rape and sodomy involving a juvenile

A Kentucky teacher has been charged with illegally having sexual contact with a minor.

Kentucky State Police obtained a warrant charging Craig E. Callen, 50, with third-degree rape, third-degree sodomy, first-degree sexual abuse and using an electronic device in the crimes, according to Trooper Shans Jacobs, spokesman for the post covering Bell County.

State Police did not identify Callen as a teacher or release information about the alleged victim.

However, Tim Crawford, the attorney for Middlesboro Independent Schools, confirmed Callen was a social studies teacher at the high school.

Crawford said the district fired Callen on Friday.

The rape and sodomy charges against Callen apply in cases in which a person of authority — including a teacher — meets a victim as a result of that position, which could indicate the victim in the case against Callen was a student.

Radio station WRIL-FM in Bell County reported the victim was a female student.

Jacobs said State Police received a complaint about Callen on Wednesday morning, interviewed witnesses and obtained a warrant before the end of the day.

Callen lives in Cumberland Gap, Tennessee, which is near Middlesboro. The Claiborne County, Tennessee, sheriff’s office arrested him.

The roster of the jail there shows Callen was booked in at 8:03 p.m. Wednesday.

Callen was being held Thursday as a fugitive from Kentucky. Authorities will have to extradite him to face the charges in Bell County.