Ohio principal charged with soliciting online sex from minor

STREETSBORO, Ohio (AP) — An elementary-school principal here has been fired after being accused of soliciting sex online from an adult posing as a 13-year-old girl.

William Basel, 35, of Twinsburg was charged Tuesday with attempted importuning, a misdemeanor. An Ohio attorney general’s office spokeswoman says the state Internet Crimes Against Children unit investigated Basel after someone outside law enforcement reported having a sexually explicit online chat with him in March. Investigators searched Basel’s home and seized computer equipment Tuesday.

Streetsboro schools posted on its website that Basel was fired after investigators asked to search his school computer. Basel was principal at a school for grades four through six.

Basel is free on bond. A court hearing is scheduled Monday.