Lake HS coach arrested in child sex crime undercover operation

FOSTORIA, Ohio (WTVG) - A new assistant track and field coach at Lake High School is the latest man charged with sex crimes against a minor in an undercover operation led by Fostoria Police, authorities said Sunday.

Kevin Crowe, 27, from Bowling Green, traveled to the City of Fostoria on Friday to meet with a person who he thought was a minor to “engage in sexual conduct,” Fostoria Police Chief Gabe Wedge said in a news release.

Officers who arrested Crowe said he was carrying a Lake High School Track Coach ID.

The district sent out an email Sunday confirming Crowe just completed his first week as an assistant track coach. District leaders said he is suspended from all duties pending further investigation.

Crowe is charged with Importuning and Attempted Sexual Conduct with a Minor.

The department recently announced the arrests of 15 other people in an undercover sting that lasted ten months. Chief Wedge said the operation involving Crowe lasted less than a day and was led by Fostoria Police Officer Kyle Reinbolt as another Internet Crimes Against Children investigation.

Chief Wedge says the department will continue these operations no matter the sentencing imposed by the courts.

He said in the alleged crimes against children are not isolated to the City of Fostoria.

“These crimes are happening in every city in the country, so a better question to ask, instead of ‘why are all these happening in Fostoria,’ is ‘are these types of investigations being conducted where I live.’ Because the bottom line is, that they should be,” Wedge said.

Chief Wedge says in all investigations, these subjects are arrested as soon as possible; however, the 10-month timeline was used as a measurement of how long the department conducted investigations without publicly posting anything; “in hopes of investigating and apprehending as many of these predators as possible.”

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