By Greg Sowinski
LIMA — A judge told a former
Bluffton auxiliary police officer he was troubled by the fact a police officer,
who is supposed to guard against crime, violated the law by committing a sex
crime against a child.
“He’s in a position he’s
supposed to prevent offenses like this from happening or bring others who
commit offenses like this to justice,” said Judge Jeffrey Reed of Allen County
Common Pleas Court.
Reed’s words came Monday just
before he sentenced 24-year-old Andrew Probst to four years in prison on eight
counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.
Probst declined to make a
statement but his attorney, Bill Kluge, said Probst accepts responsibility.
Kluge said it cost Probst his career as a police officer.
Probst was 23 years old when he
began a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old girl. That relationship occurred
between Sept. 1, 2012, and Jan. 20, said Assistant Allen County Prosecutor
Terri Kohlrieser.
The crimes were unrelated to
Probst’s job with the Bluffton Police Department, which he worked for as an
unpaid auxiliary officer. Probst was hired Nov. 14, 2011, and resigned Feb. 17.
The girl told a staff member at
the school she attends and that staff member, who is required by law to report
such crimes, reported the matter to Allen County Children Services, Kohlrieser
said.