Austintown Trustee found not guilty of sexual battery, guilty of tampering with evidence
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Austintown Trustee Steve Kent has been found not guilty of sexual battery, but guilty of tampering with evidence.
It took the jury a little more than one hour to decide their verdict Monday afternoon.
During his testimony Monday morning, Kent testified that he had met the alleged victim shortly after his son died in a car accident when she approached him and had a conversation with him.
"She would come out of the classroom and find me out in the hallway making security rounds," Kent testified.
He added that this would happen "frequently" and that he'd tell her to get back to class.
Kent testified that he did use multiple social media accounts at the time including Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter and Instagram. Kent said he did this because he was a school resource officer.
"If there was an issue with the kids, we would hear rumors of drug sales or what have you and we would be able to see if they were doing anything of that manner on social media," Kent testified.
Kent testified that the alleged victim did contact him on Snapchat outside of school hours with Kent testifying that she'd occasionally send a Snapchat of her crying asking to talk with him.
Kent went on to testify that have meetings with the alleged victim while he was off duty, which he says happened "more than five times," but denied that any sexual action took place and testified that he never threatened her with his weapon.
"I'd pull up beside her and she jumped in [the truck] and I was kind of shocked at it," Kent said while testifying that he never asked her to get in his truck.
Kent also admitted to giving the victim a stuffed animal around the time of Valentine's Day.
"I believe we had a conversation about what I was getting [daughter] and [wife] for Valentine's Day and she stated she never had [received] anything for Valentine's Day and [asked] if I could get her something," Kent testified.
Kent went on to admit that he had "crossed a few lines ethically" by being in contact with the alleged victim after school hours testifying that he mainly did so out of empathy for her.
"She was always upset, worried about going to prom and not seeing her mom ... and I get it because I wouldn't be able to see other things with [my son]. I admit that and deserved to get removed from the school," Kent said.
Following Kent's testimony, he was questioned by prosecutors on occasions when he had allegedly given greeting cards to the alleged victim.
Kent admitted to giving her one, but the prosecution says at least one more was found in Kent's locker at the Poland Township Police Department. Kent says he "doesn't remember" making this card, but recognized his handwriting and signature in it.
The prosecution also presented Kent with receipts of social media communications with the alleged victim including one message telling her not to send "bad pictures" out and another saying "you know I would give you a hug, but I would get in trouble."
Kent says he doesn't know what he was referring to when he mentioned "bad pictures" and says the alleged victim never sent him any "bad pictures."
Prosecutors questioned why Kent was concerned about hugging the alleged victim despite a scholarship campaign incentivizing other students to hug him.
Earlier in his testimony, Kent had admitted to performing a factory reset on his cell phone. Prosecutors allege that before he did that, he had searched "What does precise location mean on iPhone?" Kent says he doesn't remember searching this.
Following Kent's testimony and a break, closing argument's began.
The prosecution argued that the alleged victim was very specific about her experiences with Kent.
Prosecutors noted that Kent never disputed that he was in the locations where she claimed the sexual conduct allegedly occurred with her and also admitted to deleting evidence by factory resetting his phone.
"This is someone who knows exactly what he's doing," the prosecution said.
However, the defense argues that this could simply be an instance of a teen infatuated with Kent and that Kent only performed the factory to hide messages from his wife.
The defense also questioned why the alleged victim would get in Kent's truck on her own accord the second and third times if she felt like she was forced the first time.
At this point, it's unclear what Kent's sentence will be for the tampering with evidence charge. Stay connected online and on air for the latest updates.
