SALEM Businessman enters pleas of innocent to sex charges

Arthur Spack resigned as mayor of Summitville to concentrate on the case.
LISBON -- Salem businessman Arthur Spack entered innocent pleas to sex charges in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.
Spack appeared Wednesday before Judge David Tobin. He was released on a recognizance bond.
A Columbiana County grand jury secretly indicted Spack, 56, of Fink Road, Kensington, on one count of compelling prostitution, a second-degree felony, and one count of gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony.
Spack also was charged with three counts of sexual imposition, each a misdemeanor.
Nearly identical charges were dismissed in Columbiana County Municipal Court last month before the case was presented to the grand jury.
The prostitution charge stems from allegations that Spack offered a 15-year-old Salem girl money for a sex act in 2001. The offense is said to have occurred at Mimi's Cafe on Penn Avenue in Salem, which is owned by Spack.
Spack also owns an insurance agency in Salem. He resigned as mayor of Summitville, saying he needed to concentrate on his defense.
Spack originally had been charged with a second count of compelling prostitution. County Prosecutor Robert Herron was unavailable to comment on the charges in the indictment.