Kentucky Summative Assessment (KSA) Results for Russellville Independent School District
	Elementary Reading	Elementary Math	Middle Reading	Middle Math	High Reading	High Math
Proficient	23%	19%	24%	20%	24%	33%
Distinguished	7%	4%	11%	3%	12%	2%
See All Scores here.

Annual Notice of Definition of Sexual Extortion

Sexual Extortion Superintendent's Letter

Dear Parents and Guardians,

Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students is one of the many responsibilities that we have as a school district. Senate Bill (SB) 73[1], related to sexual extortion, was recently passed by the legislature and requires the district to provide the following information about sexual extortion to help ensure that parents/guardians have the resources they need to support their student(s) and protect them from being victimized (KRS 531.125).

Sexual extortion, also known as sextortion, occurs when someone threatens another person – through violence, harm to reputation, or distribution of explicit material – with the intent to coerce them into unwanted actions. These actions may include engaging in sexual conduct, providing explicit content, providing money or valuables, or complying with demands against the victims’ will. These situations can cause significant emotional distress and place victims in dangerous situations. Many victims feel forced to comply because they fear the repercussions. Below is the exact language in SB 73/KRS 531.125, followed by resources provided to support you and your student.

Sexual Extortion is defined as:

A person is guilty of sexual extortion when he or she communicates, through any means, a threat to:

(a) Injure the property or reputation of another person or commit violence against another person with the intent to coerce that person to:

- - - 1. Engage in sexual conduct; or
      2. Produce, provide, or distribute any matter depicting that person engaging in sexual conduct or in a state of nudity or semi nudity; or

(b) Distribute any matter depicting another person engaged in sexual conduct or in a state of nudity or semi nudity with the intent to coerce that person to:

1. 1. Engage in sexual conduct;
  2. Produce, provide, or distribute any matter depicting that person engaging in sexual conduct or in a state of nudity or semi nudity;
  3. Provide the payment of money, property, services, or any other thing of value to the perpetrator; or
  4. Do any act or refrain from doing any act against his or her will.

Schools are required to display posters with resources to help young people report and seek support if they believe they or someone they know are victims of sextortion. One of the most effective ways to protect youth is by encouraging open communication with trusted adults.

Parents and guardians play a key role in keeping their student(s)safe by discussing healthy relationships and by respecting boundaries. Together, we can help ensure these children understand that sexual extortion is NEVER their fault, and that there is always someone out there to help them navigate these situations if they find that they have fallen victim to these predators. Offenders often manipulate, groom, or trick young people into sharing images and scare them into submission. To support families, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) provides resources to help parents talk with their student(s) about these risks and take steps to remove harmful images from the internet.

What Parents Should Know About Sextortion: https://www.missingkids.org/content/dam/netsmartz/downloadable/tipsheets/sextortion-what-parents-should-know.pdf

Even if an explicit image or video has been shared, there are ways to have it removed. Parents and guardians can help young people by using NCMEC’s Take It Down tool and reporting the content to the platform or app where it was posted. For more information, visit these resources:

Take It Down – Remove Explicit Images: https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/

Our district is committed to helping you keep your students safe from sexual extortion. Please do not hesitate to contact school or district staff with any questions or concerns related to this critical issue.

[1] The full text of SB 73 is available at https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/recorddocuments/bill/25RS/sb73/bill.pdf and becomes effective June 27, 2025. SB 73 creates a new statute, KRS 531.125, and is available at https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56088.

Definition of Sexual Extortion

A person is guilty of sexual extortion when he or she communicates, through any means, a threat to:

(a) Injure the property or reputation of another person or commit violence against another person with the intent to coerce that person to:

1. Engage in sexual conduct; or
2. Produce, provide, or distribute any matter depicting that person engaging in sexual conduct or in a state of nudity or seminudity; or

(b) Distribute any matter depicting another person engaged in sexual conduct or in a state of nudity or seminudity with the intent to coerce that person to:

1. Engage in sexual conduct;
2. Produce, provide, or distribute any matter depicting that person engaging in sexual conduct or in a state of nudity or seminudity;
3. Provide the payment of money, property, services, or any other thing of value to the perpetrator; or
4. Do any act or refrain from doing any act against his or her will.

Sexual extortion is a Class A misdemeanor unless:

(a) The victim, as a result of the commission of the offense:

1. Engages in sexual conduct;
2. Produces, provides, or distributes any matter depicting himself or herself engaging in sexual conduct or in a state of nudity or seminudity;
3. Provides the payment of money, property, services, or any other thing of value to the offender;
4. Does any act or refrains from doing any act against his or her will; or
5. Suffers serious physical injury;

In which case it is a Class D felony; or

(b) 1. The person:

a. Was previously convicted of any sexual offense under KRS Chapter 510 or a sex crime as defined in KRS 17.500;
b. Occupied a position of special trust or a position of authority as those terms are defined in KRS 532.045 in relation to the victim;
c. Used or threatened the use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument against the victim during the commission of the offense; or
d. Is an adult and the victim is a minor, and there is greater than a four (4) year difference in age between them; or

2. The offense was committed during the course of a kidnapping as described in KRS 509.040;
In which case the person shall be charged one (1) level higher than the level otherwise specified in this subsection.

If the victim attempts suicide resulting in serious physical injury or dies by suicide within ninety (90) days of the commission of the offense as a proximate result of the trauma the victim experience during or following the commission of the offense, the person may be prosecuted for homicide under KRS Chapter 507 or assault under KRS Chapter 508.

This section does not apply to:

(a) Images involving voluntary nudity or sexual conduct in public, commercial settings, or in a place where a person does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy;
(b) Disclosures made in the public interest, including the reporting of unlawful conduct, or lawful and common practices of law enforcement, criminal reporting, corrections, legal proceedings, or medical treatment;
(c) Disclosures of materials that constitute a matter of public concern; or
(d) When acting in its capacity as a provider of those services, a:

1. Broadband internet access service provider;
2. Telecommunications service provider, an interconnected VoIP service provider, or a mobile service providers as defined in 47 U.S.C. sec. 153;
3. Commercial mobile service providers as defined in 47 U.S.C. sec. 332; or
4. Cable operator as defined in 47 U.S.C. sect. 522; or

(e) An interactive computer service, as defined in 47 U.S.C. sec. 230, related to content provided by a user of the interactive computer service.1