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Former Newark Catholic teacher indicted on gross sexual imposition, voyeurism charges

All seven charges are felonies and a summons was issued for Donald Schaefer to appear in court later this month.

LICKING COUNTY, Ohio — A former Newark Catholic teacher, Donald Schaefer, has been indicted on six counts of gross sexual imposition and one count of voyeurism, according to Licking County Common Pleas Court records.

According to the indictment, the gross sexual imposition charges stem from alleged incidents that happened between Sept. 2015 and June 2017 and between Sept. 2018 and June 2020.

The voyeurism charge is the result of an alleged incident between May and July of 2021.

Newark Police Detective Steve Vanoy told 10TV the charges are the results of allegations made by two separate victims.

All seven charges are felonies and a summons was issued for Schaefer to appear in court later this month.

On Aug. 31, a complaint filed in court accused Schaefer of touching a male student sexually.

The incident happened at Schaefer's home between Sept. 2018 and June 2020, a detective wrote in the filing.

The student pushed Schaefer's hand away multiple times trying to keep Schaefer from touching him, according to the court document.

The student told a detective this happened multiple times while he was in high school, court records show.

Schaefer was released on bond on Sept. 1.

Newark police said the detective is still investigating the case for possible other victims.

Anyone with information related to the investigation is asked to call Detective Steve Vanoy at 740-670-7928.

The Catholic Diocese of Columbus provided the following statement to 10TV on Sept. 1:

"Mr. Don Schaefer resigned from his position as a teacher at Newark Catholic High School in January, 2020. This followed an investigation by the Diocese of Columbus into complaints made against him about boundary violations and for reasons which include failure to abide by Diocesan safe environment policies."

A spokesperson for the Diocese then sent 10TV another statement, also on Sept. 1:

"The Diocese’s investigation into the conduct of Mr. Schaefer in 2019 lasted several weeks and involved interviews of approximately a dozen individuals. While that comprehensive investigation did not uncover any criminal conduct, it did identify conduct that was in violation of the Diocese’s safe environment protocols. The results of the investigation were shared with the proper authorities. It is the Diocese’s understanding that the criminal charges that have just been filed are the result of new information that recently came to the attention of the authorities. Because the Diocese is not privy to all of that information, the Diocese does not believe it is proper for it to comment further on what was the basis for the criminal charges."

On Sept. 9, the Diocese sent the following statement:

"While NCHS and the Diocese of Columbus have fully cooperated with the Newark Police Department, and will continue to do so in the future, we simply are not privy to the information behind the indictment, nor the incidents referenced in the indictment. As such, we are not in a position to comment on the events set forth in the indictment."

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