Charges added to Youngstown cop’s sex case

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A Youngstown police officer faces 23 charges of sex-related offenses involving three victims.

Arthur Carter, 44, of Youngstown faces charges of rape, sexual battery and unlawful sexual contact with a minor for purported acts between 2001 and 2009.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Crimes Against Children Unit investigated the case.

Carter was previously indicted in 2017 for sexual acts with a minor alleged to have occurred in 2009. Thursday’s indictment adds two victims.

Mahoning County grand jurors indicted Carter on two counts of rape with sexually violent predator specifications; 13 counts of sexual battery with sexually violent predator specifications; six counts of unlawful sexual contact with a minor; disseminating matter harmful to juveniles; and illegal use of a minor in a nudity-oriented material or performance.

All victims were high school students between 15 and 18 years old, prosecutors said.

Carter was employed by the Youngstown Police Department for almost 10 years before he was placed on leave after the accusations.

He also was an assistant girls’ track coach for Ursuline High School at the time.

Atorney General Mike DeWine said his office was asked to assist in the investigation, which led to the new charges Thursday.

“Our Crimes Against Children Unit was asked to further investigate this case,” DeWine said. “Their hard work led to the identification of two more individuals who were allegedly taken advantage of by someone who should have been a trusted adult.”

The case is being prosecuted by attorneys with Attorney General DeWine’s Special Prosecutions Section as part of the Attorney General’s Crimes Against Children Initiative.

Carter posted $50,000 bond in the case late Thursday afternoon.