Former Newark police officer accused of stalking, sending inappropriate images to minor

NEWARK, Ohio (WCMH) – A former Newark police officer is facing multiple charges accusing him of inappropriate behavior with a minor.

According to Licking County Municipal Court records, Steven Carles is facing one charge of menacing by stalking and three counts of disseminating harmful material to a juvenile. The charges stem from alleged incidents between Carles and a student at the Career & Technology Education Centers (C-TEC) in Licking County.

A criminal complaint from October 2023 states that Carles, who was also a School Resource Officer at C-TEC, sent a pair of inappropriate images of himself to the student during the summer of 2023. The alleged images, plus one video, contained the captions “1-0”, “2-0”, and “3-0”, which the victim interpreted as Carles noting he had sent her one, two and three images, while she had sent him zero.

The 17-year-old victim told Newark police that she noticed Carles would give her a lot of attention at school by asking questions, and that once he slid his hand across her back which “grossed her out."

That summer, the victim alleged that Carles sent an Instagram message after he said he saw her driving. In June, Carles reportedly sent the victim a mirror picture with his shirt off. One or two weeks later, Carles allegedly sent a video with him shirtless, and a towel wrapped low around his waist. The third image, according to the complaint, was an image of Carles with his shorts worn low.

The victim further explained that Carles, who was later working as a school resource officer at Newark Middle School, told her sister at the middle school to tell the victim, “Hi” and that he wanted to attend a football game to watch the victim cheer during the current school year.

The report also noted that the victim said Carles “liked” many of her social media posts. She told police that she deleted the images but shared them with a friend to keep a copy, “in case anything happened in the future.”

On Oct. 19, 2023, Carles was placed on administrative leave until investigations into the reports concluded. He turned in his badge and handgun and was interviewed by detectives, who stated that Carles did not want to comment and asked to speak to a union representative. During that conversation, a detective noticed on the victim’s phone that Carles blocked her Instagram account.

Carles was interviewed again with an attorney present one week later. While police said he admitted to sending the images and video and agreed they were “not right”, he denied any perceived intentions. He also denied ever touching the victim, speaking to the victim’s sister and had no explanation of the photo captions with the numbers, “1-0”, “2-0, “3-0.”

Newark police conducted a separate interview with the C-TEC director and the current school officer, who the victim’s friend had shared one of the images with. The image was shown to the Newark detective, matching one of the photos the victim had described in earlier statements. The victim’s friend also confirmed to detectives that they remembered the photo. Both the officer and the victim’s friend explained they had the same perception of the photo captions.

The complaint included a screenshot shared with detectives from the victim’s friend’s phone. It read as follows:

Officer Carles: Haha I get it. I could be more descriptive and detailed but what fun (is) that.

Victim: No explain

Officer Carles: (Two laughing emojis) sent u two old man pics 2-0

Victim: What’s the 2-0 mean

Officer Carles: Haha omg (name) get with it (laughing emoji and another emoji)

Victim: I honestly don’t get it (laughing emoji)

Officer Carles: “View photo” (Officer Carles sent victim another photo 3-0)

On Nov. 1, the Newark detective leading the investigation received a phone call from Carles, who asked for an update on the investigation. An offer was made to him for another interview, which he declined.

On Nov. 8, the detective interviewed the victim’s sister, who confirmed allegations that Carles spoke with her, asking her to tell the victim “Hi” and attending a football game to watch the victim cheer. The sister also reportedly told detectives that the victim advised her not to share any personal information with Carles.

According to the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy portal, Carles was employed as a Zanesville police officer from November 2016 through May of 2018. He then became a Newark officer from June of 2018 until February 2024, and was employed as a school officer between 2021 and 2023 within the Newark school district. He is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.