Chester Township police officer and former West Geauga Schools Resource Officer Nicholas Iacampo, who was recently accused of sexual battery against a 16-year-old, officially resigned from the police department Aug. 28.
Chester Township police officer and former West Geauga Schools Resource Officer Nicholas Iacampo, who was recently accused of sexual battery against a 16-year-old, officially resigned from the police department Aug. 28.
Iacampo was accused of having sexual contact with a teenager Aug. 6 while on duty, but the charges were ultimately dropped. During an Aug. 18 hearing in Chardon Municipal Court, prosecutors said the state law which ruled it a felony for a peace officer to have sex with a minor more than two years younger than the officer was ruled unconstitutional in 2016.
In his letter of resignation, addressed to Chester Township Police Chief Craig Young, Iacampo thanked Young for affording him the opportunity to serve as a patrolman for the department.
“It was an honor to serve with you and the other professional men and women of the department,” he wrote. “Respectfully, please accept this notice of my decision to resign from my position as patrol officer and employee of the Chester Township Police Department, effective immediately. Again, thank you for placing your trust in me. I wish you and all of the employees of the department well.”
Young confirmed Iacampo’s resignation in an interview Sept. 1 and said there was never going to be a situation in which Iacampo would return to his post.
“He will not be back at the police department,” Young said. “This just kind of finalized that.”
Young said he expects and anticipates the state legislature will either update or add an addendum to the law indicating police officers and school resource officers are prohibited from having sexual relations with minors over a two-year age gap.
“I (will) look for them to put that back in. But right now, we are really at the point where we don’t have that code,” he said.
Iacampo’s case was taken by the office of Lake County Prosecutor Charles Coulson to avoid any conflicts or potential conflicts of interest in Geauga County’s court system, as Iacampo is the son of Chardon Municipal Court Judge Terri Stupica.
“There are other (criminal) codes that Lake County can charge under, and we anticipate that there will be an indictment through the grand jury at some point,” Young said.
