Former police chief of village in Mahoning County pleaded guilty to child pornography crimes

The police chief of a village in Mahoning County pleaded guilty to child pornography crimes, law enforcement officials said.

Andrew M. Soloman, 36, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 28.

He pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and possessing visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Soloman was the police chief of Craig Beach Village when he committed the crimes. He met the juvenile victim when responding to her residence for calls about harassment and a juvenile runaway. During their interactions, the victim sat in Soloman’s cruiser for several hours and talked. He provided her with his work email address, according to court documents.

The two continued to communicate via text and email. The victim sent Soloman sexually explicit photographs of herself and Soloman responded by sending sexually explicit photographs via his work email account. This took place from  Oct. 24 through Dec. 7, 2017 according to court documents.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Sullivan following an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office and the Austintown Police Department.