43
Austintown girls basketball coach arrested on child porn charges
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
An Austintown Middle School girls basketball coach faces three felony charges of child pornography.
Rex Bosley, 59, of Austintown, was arrested Wednesday afternoon after a search of his home, where authorities seized a laptop computer and a phone.
Bosley, who was booked into the Mahoning County jail, faces charges of one count each of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor, pandering obscenity involving a minor and illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance.
“We have not identified any local victims in the material, but we are still conducting the investigation,” said Dan Tierney, spokesman for the office of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine.
The investigation began in March.
The Austintown school board hired Bosley as a seventh-grade girls basketball coach at AMS in November. The news of his arrest and the charges was a surprise to schools Superintendent Vincent Colaluca.
“As far as I know, there have been no instances with our kids [regarding] that basketball coach,” Colaluca said. “On this [case], we would definitely be consulting with the police and cooperating with the investigation in any way we can.”
The superintendent added school officials will decide “how we can move forward in terminating that person’s contract.”
The school district, in a statement, said: “On Aug. 12, 2015, the administration of the Austintown Local School District became aware that a part-time, limited supplemental winter sport coach has been booked for the possession of child pornography. The individual, who is not an Austintown teacher, passed all required screenings prior to coaching. The individual passed a Pupil Activity Verification (PAV), which is the required screening for coaches in accordance with the Ohio Department of Education.
“In addition, the coach passed a Bureau of Criminal Investigation background check, a Federal Bureau of Investigation background check, and a drug screening.”
These agencies worked on the case: township police, the attorney general’s Crimes Against Children Unit, Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.