Canfield businessman faces child porn, drug charges

Arrest of Trent Rapp

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Police arrested a Beaver Township man after a six-month investigation uncovered a counterfeit money operation and child pornography offenses.

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UNDER ARREST: Trent Rapp, 42, of Beaver Township, was arrested by Canfield Police at the Dairy Queen he owns on South Broad Street in Canfield. The Mahoning County grand jury handed up a 16-count indictment against Rapp on Thursday stemming from a six-month investigation into a counterfeit money operation, drug possession and child-pornography offenses.

By Elise Franco

A detective describes child pornography images as ‘disgusting and disturbing.’

CANFIELD — The combined efforts of several law-enforcement agencies culminated in the indictment of a Beaver Township man on child pornography and drug offenses.

City police took Trent Rapp, 42, of Market Street, into custody just after 3 p.m. Thursday at the Dairy Queen on South Broad Street. The arrest and 16 charges brought against Rapp were the result of an investigation that began Jan. 16 after a resource officer at Mahoning County Career and Technical Center confiscated counterfeit currency from a student.

A police report said at least six fake $100 bills were confiscated at MCCTC at that time.

A Mahoning County grand jury indicted Rapp on Thursday on one count of marijuana trafficking, one count of cocaine possession, one count of corruption of a minor with drugs, one count of possession of criminal tools, eight counts of child pornography and four counts of pandering sexually oriented material.

Though Rapp, who owns the Dairy Queen, was arrested at the business, police said all the crimes occurred at his Beaver Township home. The Dairy Queen played no role in the crimes, they said.

Canfield Detective Brian McGivern said during a news conference that police carried out a search warrant at Rapp’s residence Jan. 16. Several computers were confiscated, along with several hundred dollars in counterfeit money and a small amount of suspected marijuana and powdered cocaine.

“We conducted the search believing that he had large stacks of counterfeit bills, and that’s what we found,” he said.

McGivern said the bills were created on Rapp’s computer and easily could be mistaken for real money.

According to the report, during the search, Rapp told police the fake money was used for magic tricks and never for fraudulent purposes.

McGivern said the evidence was sent to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation for analysis.

“The BCI report showed numerous child pornography images downloaded to the computer,” he said, describing the images as disgusting and disturbing.

McGivern said during the investigation numerous juveniles were questioned, and some came forward with information stating Rapp provided them with drugs and counterfeit money. He also said police believe Rapp showed the pornography to the minors.

Because the investigation continues, McGivern couldn’t say exactly how many minors were involved, but he did say there were “a lot.”

Canfield Detective Andy Bodzak said the money was circulated in parts of Boardman, Akron, Canton and Erie, Pa.

McGivern said he couldn’t give details on how much money was produced and circulated because the Secret Service is handling that part of the investigation.

He said federal charges on Rapp are pending.

McGivern said BCI, the Beaver Township Police Department, the FBI and the Secret Service worked jointly on the investigation.

Canfield Police Chief Chuck Colucci said he’s pleased with how the investigation was handled.

“I’m proud of our investigation along with the Beaver Police Department,” he said. “Whenever you’re dealing with offenses involving minors it’s difficult, and we did an excellent and thorough job waiting for the indictments to come out.”

Rapp was booked at the Beaver Township Police Department and sent to Mahoning County jail in lieu of bond.

Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Nick Modarelli said Rapp will appear for arraignment at 9 a.m. Aug. 4 in common pleas court.

efranco@vindy.com