Fire lieutenant arrested for prostitution

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio — A lieutenant for the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department has taken a leave of absence from his role after he was arrested in a prostitution sting last month, investigators and the department’s president confirmed.

John C. Steele was arrested in an undercover operation by the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force in East Palestine, OH, in October.

Investigators said Steele agreed to pay $180 for sex with an undercover officer and was caught with the cash and his cell phone outside the meeting point, which investigators listed as the East Palestine police department.

It’s the same group of officers that nabbed San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York in a different sting operation in August.

The two high-profile arrests are no coincidence. Columbiana County, OH – where East Palestine is located – is known for its highly aggressive task force that operates on prostitution websites, posing as sex workers and others likely to be victims of human trafficking.

The former Ohio Attorney General highlighted the task force’s work in a report earlier this year. From 2019 to 2025, Columbiana County accounted for 34% of the human trafficking-related arrests in the state, far more than Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland combined.

WPXI dug through announcements of dozens of recent busts and found most of the men and women were not traveling across state lines from the Pittsburgh metro, which is a short drive away.

Anyone convicted of engaging in prostitution in Ohio must attend a course known as “John School,” which educates them about human trafficking.

Efforts to reach Steele for comment Thursday were not successful.

“We will monitor [Steele’s] right to due process in the court system and handle matters appropriately,” Imperial VFD President Matthew Kramer said.

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