A former baseball coach with deep ties to the Geauga County sports community has been arrested and charged with the rape of a child, sending shockwaves through the region where he was once celebrated as an athletic standout and community figure.
Steve Smetana, 53, of Claridon Township, was taken into custody on May 4 at his Hall Road home following a four-hour search that brought together multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Parma Heights Police Department and the Geauga County Sheriff’s Office.
The arrest came after Parma Heights detectives launched an investigation on April 27, when the alleged victim and her family came forward to report the assault.
According to Sergeant Eric Taylor of the Parma Heights Police Department, Smetana initially made contact with the girl, who was under the age of 13, through an online chat platform.
Communications between the two eventually moved to text messages. Investigators say the contact escalated well beyond digital conversation.
Court records from Parma Municipal Court allege that Smetana traveled to the girl’s home in Parma Heights, where the two engaged in sexual intercourse on at least one occasion.
Beyond that incident, prosecutors allege there were multiple other meetings where Smetana picked up the girl at a nearby church and drove her to a local park, where additional sexual acts took place.
The details outlined in the criminal complaint paint a pattern of calculated, repeated behavior involving a child.
Smetana currently faces one count of rape, a first-degree felony, filed through Parma Municipal Court. He was held at the Parma Detention Center before his bond hearing on May 5.
Investigators have indicated that evidence recovered during the search of his home could support additional charges once the case is forwarded to a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury, where prosecutors may expand the indictment further.
The arrest stands in stark contrast to the reputation Smetana had built over decades in northeast Ohio.
A 1991 graduate of Cardinal High School, he was inducted into the Cardinal Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017, recognized for his accomplishments as a baseball player.
He went on to play at Kent State University before signing with the Boston Red Sox organization as a left-handed pitcher in 1996.
He climbed to the Double-A level in the minor leagues before retiring from professional baseball in 2001.
After his playing days ended, Smetana remained connected to the sport as a coach.
He served as the head baseball coach at Berkshire Local School District from 2009 to 2016 and was credited with helping improve and maintain Gander Field, the school’s home baseball field.
Outside of coaching, he ran a business called Field of Play, a turf company he founded in 2007. The company installed synthetic grass and sports turf across Ohio and the surrounding states.
Field of Play was even hired by Berkshire Schools to install the turf football field at Great Lakes Cheese Stadium when it opened in 2022, further cementing Smetana’s presence in the local athletic community.
The contrast between his public standing and the nature of the charges against him has left many in the community stunned.
A man who spent years shaping young athletes and improving the facilities where they played now finds himself at the center of a criminal case involving the sexual assault of a child.
Smetana’s attorney had not been publicly identified at the time reports were filed.
The Parma Heights Police Department has stated the investigation remains active, and authorities continue to gather evidence that may result in further legal action before the case reaches the county’s highest court.
