YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - A former Austintown Trustee who was convicted of tampering with evidence in 2023 has filed an appeal of his conviction.

During a trial against former Austintown Trustee Steve Kent in 2023, Kent was found not guilty of three counts of sexual battery. However, he's still due to serve prison time on one count of tampering with evidence.

During his testimony, Kent admitted to factory resetting his iPhone during his time as the school's resource officer 

However, his attorney is now appealing this conviction stating that while Kent did indeed factory reset his iPhone and admit to it in court, there is no evidence he did so while the criminal investigation was taking place.

"Despite the fact that Kent was at the time a 54-year-old man with no prior record who was found guilty of a non-violent offense, and where there was no harm done to the victim, was sentenced to one year in prison by the trial judge. This too was error," a court document reads.

According to court records, Kent had compromising information on his phone involving a woman he was allegedly having an affair with who found out he was in contact with a student from Poland High School.

Court records show Kent performed the reset after receiving a call from that woman threatening to call his wife about this contact.

According to court records, the call occurred the day before the criminal investigation opened and two days before Kent became aware that he was under investigation.

As it stands, Kent was sentenced to one year in prison on the tampering charge. You can familiarize yourself with Kent's trial in our related coverage below.

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