Ohio Teacher Charged With Paying a Minor for Sex

An Ohio public school teacher was charged Wednesday for allegedly paying for sex with a 16-year-old girl.

A Franklin County municipal court record stated that Robert Pea knowingly paid the minor $80 for sex on June 26. He found her through an online ad and arranged over text to meet at a hotel, the complaint stated. Pea was a social studies teacher and boys bowling and golf coach at Northland High School, according to ABC 6.

Pea was arrested at the school Wednesday morning and charged with one count of compelling prostitution, a third-degree felony, according to Ohio attorney general Dave Yost. Pea “contacted a minor through an online advertisement and engaged in sexual activity for hire,” Yost stated.

There were no students present at the school at the time of the arrest, according to Dana Hess, director of the Central Ohio Human Trafficking Task Force, Fox 28 reported.

The victim is now safe, living with her mother and attending a private school, according to Fox 28.

Pea was interviewed by the police Monday as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation, according to Steve Irwin, a spokesman for the Ohio attorney general’s office. Irwin could not speak to whether the school was notified of the investigation prior to Pea’s arrest.

Columbus City Schools did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.