SHELBY COUNTY, Ky. (WDRB) — Hannah Ross says she was a middle school student when a trusted adult began grooming her—a relationship that ended in marriage. Now, Ross is calling on Kentucky lawmakers to act, citing gaps in state law that allowed her abuse to go unchecked.
"I promise to marry you and make you the happiest woman in the world," read a letter from her former teacher, preserved in a box overflowing with notes exchanged between Ross and the adult when she was a child.
One letter stated: "Your age matters nothing to me. Your heart is made of gold. I will not only be your husband and the father of your children but I will also help you with the Ross family as well."
Ross had a traumatic childhood. In eighth grade, a 36-year-old bus driver began paying her attention." That was the first time I felt seen by someone," she recalled.
The relationship escalated when she reached high school, where he worked as a teacher. Ross says he pushed her to change her schedule, and their interactions included nights wrapped in a blanket on the school floor, secret phones he bought her, and hiding behind bookshelves in his classroom. "I live for the moments we spend alone together, but it’s not enough," one letter reads.
Hannah Ross (left) with the man who groomed her as a student. (WDRB Photo)
By her sophomore year, the relationship became sexual. On her 18th birthday, he took her out of state and married her, he was 41. The couple had three children before divorcing 22 years later. Ross does not name or show his face to protect their children.
Currently, Kentucky has no statute defining grooming or criminalizing it. Kentucky Representative Marianne Proctor plans to file a bill in mid-January to make grooming illegal. Proctor defines grooming as "an adult in a position of authority or special trust that engages in behaviors with a minor to prepare them for future sexual conduct."
The draft of the bill writes "A person is guilty of grooming a minor when: Being eighteen (18) years of age or older, he or she knowingly engages in grooming behavior directed at a minor who is under fourteen (14) years old, with the intent to entice, coerce, solicit, or prepare the minor to engage in sexual conduct with the person or another person."
Ross would like to see the age raised to be older than 14 in the bill.Â
Ross is advocating for additional measures, including mandatory grooming education for school staff, a required waiting period before teachers can date former students, and accountability for schools that ignore warning signs. "There has to be some laws to protect kids from grooming," she said.
She came forward publicly after another former student revealed in December that a Collins High School basketball coach groomed her for two years. For years, Ross kept her letters private. "I just felt like sharing what happened would come at tremendous personal cost to me. It would impact my daughters," she said.
Now, she has written a new letter, titled Letter to Kentucky, which has been posted publicly. Ross has also started a petition urging lawmakers to implement stronger protections for students from grooming and abuse in schools.
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