Bond set for child sex-crimes suspect

Staff report

STRUTHERS

Bond for the 44-year-old Struthers man charged with unlawful sexual conduct involving a minor, a third-degree felony, was set at $300,000, due to the seriousness of the charge and his being a flight risk, when he appeared in Struthers Municipal Court on Friday.

Christopher George, who lives on Fourth Street in Struthers, was arrested at his Youngstown workplace — the Ohio State Penitentiary, where he was employed as a prison guard — Wednesday afternoon. George resigned from the post Thursday morning, and was found to be indigent. He will be granted an attorney.

Officers with the Struthers Police Department and agents with Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Crimes Against Children Unit, a division of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, arrested George. The Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office also was involved with the investigation.

The child, a 14-year-old girl, is a family acquaintance.

Police became aware of George’s relationship with the girl after she and her parents, who live in Campbell, reported it Sept. 10, said Jeff Lewis, a detective with the Struthers Police Department. He added that the two had known each other for about three years, but that the unlawful conduct began Aug. 3.

With the assistance of Ohio BCI, which Lewis called “a great resource,” officers were able to learn more about the inappropriate relationship through records of “a lot of online chatting” and texting.

Lewis said he urges others to consider George’s family, as “they had nothing to do with this” and are “innocent victims.”

George is scheduled to appear in Struthers Municipal Court on Friday, and Lewis said he anticipates the case’s direct presentation to a Mahoning County grand jury. Additional charges may be filed.