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Ex-Craig Beach chief faces fed sex charge
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Former Craig Beach Police Chief Andrew Soloman was charged in federal court with one count of receiving child pornography.
U.S. Marshals arrested Soloman on Thursday after the charge was filed in federal court here. He has yet to be indicted.
An affidavit accompanying a criminal complaint said Soloman, 36, of Warren, acknowledged receiving several pictures from a 16-year-old girl on his cellphone that he admitted were inappropriate.
He also sent her pictures of himself showing his genitals, the affidavit said.
Soloman first met the girl in October when he answered a call for an unruly juvenile in Lake Milton. The affidavit also said the girl told investigators she and Soloman had sex in his car. The affidavit said Soloman denied having sex with the girl but that they had discussed it.
The affidavit said police were called to the girl’s aunt’s home Oct. 24, but the teen ran away, hid in the woods and was later taken by a passer-by to the Craig Beach Police Department.
Soloman took the girl back to the relative’s home, where he gave her his email address. The girl later moved to Stark County, but from Nov. 15 to Nov. 28, the girl and Soloman emailed each other hundreds of times, the affidavit said.
The investigation began Nov. 29 after Stark County Children Services informed the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office the girl was seen taking nude pictures of herself on her phone and the girl told someone in her home she was talking to “Andy” and that they had sex at least once in his vehicle.
Investigators then examined her devices and found she was emailing Soloman on his government address, the affidavit said. Soloman was arrested Dec. 7 on a charge of dereliction of duty by deputy sheriffs after search warrants were served at his home and the Craig Beach Police Department
The affidavit said after he was arrested, Soloman was interviewed and said the girl contacted him first. Soloman said in the affidavit he gave the girl his email address so she could talk to him that way if she was uncomfortable talking to him in person.
Soloman admitted receiving some inappropriate pictures from the girl, and he admitted he also sent her inappropriate pictures, the affidavit said. He said they talked about sex but never had sex, the affidavit said. Soloman is in federal custody.