Bullitt County high school band director reassigned pending outcome of police investigation

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Bullitt County Public Schools (BCPS) has reassigned Rodney Stults, the band director at Bullitt Central High School, to non-teaching duties pending the outcome of a police investigation.

The district gave Stults a letter saying it learned of three complaints from former students, in addition to an already existing fourth complaint. Those complaints alleged that he engaged in inappropriate and unprofessional conduct with those students.

The letter from the district informed Stults that he was being reassigned pending the outcome of the police investigation and any further necessary internal investigation.

The Shepherdsville Police Department said a total of four former students have come forward alleging inappropriate conduct from a staff member at the school. Stults had returned to work after the district finished its investigation, but the police investigation is separate.

Shepherdsville police investigators said the reported criminal activity occurred both on and off campus over a period of time between 2013 and 2015, but those alleged incidents were just reported to police in May of this year.

Screenshots obtained by WDRB appear to show the teacher sent inappropriate Facebook messages to one of the students back in 2015. Police said the statute of limitations for the reported criminal activity ended in 2016.

Shepherdsville Detective Casey Clark said the claims of the four students suggest a pattern of behavior by Stults.

"The pattern is the same," he said. "The information that they're giving us is consistent. ... It's not identical but it's really close to the exact same thing happening to all of these individuals."

When asked what charge Stults would have received if alleged victims came forward earlier, Clark said, "Because of the continual investigation, I can't comment at this time, but soon I hope to be able to comment on that."

"We'd like parents to have conversations with current students," he added. "We'd like current students to have conversations with current students and to see if they have any information to progress forward in this investigation."

Stults has messaged WDRB several times, but has remained silent the past couple of days.

Bullitt Central's band camp was supposed to start soon. Now the district says it's on hold until BCPS finds an interim band director.

The district released a statement indicating that, "at this time, nothing has been communicated with BCHS Staff or Families regarding this situation or band camp."

In a statement, the Shepherdsville Police Department said its investigation started in May: "After receiving the report, detectives immediately began to investigate the allegations. During the course of an extensive investigation, detectives gathered and processed evidence, conducted a multitude of interviews and committed more than 2 months of thoroughly investigating the case by leveraging all the resources at their disposal."

The statement went on to say that the department, "has an obligation to pursue any and all of the legal avenues available to law enforcement with the aim of delivering justice to the reported victims involved."

The Shepherdsville Police Department is asking for anyone with more information on the case to call them at 502-921-1000. Investigators say all calls will be kept confidential.

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