Alice Thomas, Dispatch Higher Education Reporter
January 20, 2001, Saturday
Copyright 2001 The Columbus Dispatch
The Columbus Dispatch
January 20, 2001, Saturday
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) -- An Ohio State University police captain who had pornographic pictures stored on his university computer was fired yesterday for running a pornographic Web site.
David Stelzer, a 22-year veteran of the force, also was accused of selling law-enforcement supplies from a company he owned to the OSU Police Department.
Stelzer, 45, had been on paid leave from his $60,000-a-year job since Dec. 28.
That ended yesterday after a disciplinary hearing attended by Stelzer, his legal counsel and OSU officials, who after the hearing gave Stelzer a letter stating the reasons for his dismissal.
One is the use of university resources to further his personal business.
“He had pornographic images on his computer at work,’' said Elizabeth Conlisk, university spokeswoman.
When questioned about the images, Stelzer denied having put them in the computer, OSU said.
Stelzer also was fired for allegedly failing to inform the university about his Web site and misconduct.
The policy manual for OSU police allows officers to participate in preapproved secondary employment as long as it does not “bring the department into disrepute.’'
Stelzer’s Web site, which has been shut down, was called FantasyWarrior.com. It had pornographic pictures and scenes of sexual bondage and domination. It was unclear whether Stelzer was featured in any of the sex acts.
Stelzer agreed to shut the site down last month after university officials launched an investigation.
That investigation concluded this week, said Vernon L. Baisden, OSU head of public safety.
Last night at his West Side home, Stelzer said: “I’m very disappointed with the university’s decision and we will be filing an appeal.’'
During its investigation, OSU found receipts from items sold to its police department from a company owned by Stelzer called TRG, which stands for Tactical Resource Group, Conlisk said.
“They were not huge, they were not hundreds of thousands of dollars or anything. But there was some evidence his company was doing business with the university, which again was a violation of university policy,’' Conlisk said.
Stelzer had worked in rape-prevention efforts at OSU.
“At one time . . . he was the coordinator for the rape aggression defense training program,’' Conlisk said. “He was not directly a trainer, and he was not directly working with the women.’'
Co-workers at the department of about 50 officers and superiors were interviewed as part of OSU’s investigation, Conlisk said.
“The overwhelming majority of the people who worked in this small shop of colleagues were not comfortable that they could continue to work if he remained in a leadership position,’' she said.