Austintown man accused of having sex with 14-year-old

Staff reports

YOUNGSTOWN

An Austintown man faces a federal criminal complaint alleging he brought a 14-year-old girl from New Castle, Pa., over the state line to have repeated sexual relations with her.

According to The Vindicator’s broadcast partner, 21 WFMJ-TV, Stephen Fleischer, 29, of Placid Drive, appeared in U.S. District Court here Wednesday when the judge ordered U.S. Marshals to take him into custody. Fleischer had been in Mahoning County Area Court in Austintown early this month on five felony counts of unlawful conduct with a minor.

His case in Austintown was bound over to the grand jury Aug. 8, online court records show.

According to an affidavit filed by the FBI, Fleischer met the 14-year-old girl through social media and picked her up in New Castle to bring her to his brother’s home in Youngstown and his parent’s home in Austintown. The two had sex several times at those locations, the affidavit states.

The affidavit said Fleischer admitted to the FBI that he had listed his age as 14 on the social media site where he met the girl and thought nothing was wrong with their sex because it was consensual. He also told authorities that he sent nude photos to the girl and asked for nude pictures from the girl, who refused.

The case came to authorities’ attention when the girl’s parents filed a missing persons report, according to WFMJ.

Fleischer is being held in the Mahoning County jail until his next hearing Wednesday.