Former baseball coach indicted for for alleged rape of child in Parma Heights

CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) - A Cuyahoga County Grand Jury indicted a former baseball coach on multiple charges for the alleged rape of a Parma Heights child.

Steven Smetana, of Chardon, was indicted on:

• Five counts of rape
• Three counts of gross sexual imposition
• Two counts of importuning
• One count of grooming
• One count of possessing criminal tools

On April 27, officers took a report of a previous sexual assault that happened in the city, according to Parma Heights Sergeant Eric Taylor,

Initial information gathered by patrol officers was then turned over to detectives for additional investigation, said Sergeant Taylor.

According to court records from the Parma Municipal Court, Smetana allegedly communicated via text messages with a girl under the age of 13 and engaging in sexual intercourse on one occasion at her home in Parma Heights.

According to the criminal complaint, there were allegedly several other occasions where Smetana met with the girl at a nearby church, and drove her to a nearby park where she would perform oral sex on him.

According to the Cardinal Local School District, Smetana was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017, and he was called an outstanding baseball player at Cardinal and attended Kent State University.

Smetana even went on to pitch professionally for the Boston Red Sox organization before retiring in 2001.

According to records from the Berkshire Local School District, he was the head baseball coach in the 2009 season, but 19 News has reached out to the district for additional details on his employment.

Smetana is scheduled to be arraigned in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on June 10.