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WARREN -- A Niles man pleaded no contest Wednesday to a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in connection with an incident involving a 14-year-old girl at Trumbull New Theatre.
Ronald E. Aulet, 35, of 1525 Difford Drive, was given a 180-day suspended jail sentence, three years probation -- during which time he can have no contact with the girl or the theater -- and a $250 fine for the first-degree misdemeanor, according to Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Stanley Elkins. Aulet also will undergo a sex offender assessment.
Nicholas Brevetta, attorney for the girl's family, said the family was satisfied with the outcome of the case in Trumbull County Family Court.
An incident report was filed Oct. 24 with Niles police alleging the defendant contributedto the unruliness / delinquency of a child for providing alcohol to a minor.
Aulet was a performer in several productions and also did set design and construction.
After the allegations became public within the local theater community, TNT's board had a contentious November meeting where many TNT members and guests expressed anger and disappointment at the way the issue initially was handled by the board.
Both the 14-year-old and her mother spoke at that meeting and indicated another minor also was involved.
Brett Bunker, president of the TNT board, said Wednesday he could not make an official statement on Aulet's plea without consulting the full board.
After that November board meeting, unredacted minutes that included the minor's name were posted to TNT's website. Bunker said he did not know how long the information was on the website before it was removed.
"Once it was realized they were posted and we got them down, we discussed internally how to handle those issues in the future," Bunker said.
At its board meeting Monday, the first meeting since November, Bunker announced several new protocols to prevent future problems.
From this point forward, any time a minor is in the theater, at least two of the following four adults will need to be present -- the show's director, assistant director, stage manager and board liaison.
"Those people will have to get background checks, and the costs will be absorbed by the board," Bunker said. "That's still in the implementation process."
All cast and crew communication for a show will be done through the Band app, which works like a group text, but without sharing contact information of participants with the other group members. Band app communication will be done with the parent / guardian of any cast member who is a minor.
Parents of minors will receive a copy of the code of conduct given to all participants and be asked to sign it along with everyone else involved in a production. Bunker said the board also will amend its code of conduct to explicitly ban alcohol from the theater, except for the wine that is available to theatergoers in the lobby during performances.
At least the top three officers on the board will participate in a Lights On certification workshop online Feb. 4.
Lights On was founded in 2020 after several women shared stories on social media and with this newspaper about sexual harassment and assault they experienced while working on productions at some area theaters in Mahoning and Columbiana counties. In many cases, they were minors when the incidents occurred.
Lights On representative Nicole Zayas -- who is active with Rust Belt Theater Company, on the board of Opera Western Reserve and a licensed clinical social worker -- talked to the board Monday.
"This is about how to prevent situations and how to address them if they arise," Zayas said. "We want you to be able to take care of what needs to be taken care of so people are safe."
agray@tribtoday.com