CAMPBELL — A man is out on bond after facing felony charges of sexually abusing a child six years ago.

Thomas Steele, 49, of Columbus Avenue in Campbell, was arrested Sunday on warrants related to a complaint filed in July 2023.

He appeared Tuesday morning in Campbell Municipal Court, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of gross sexual imposition, a third-degree felony, and disseminating material harmful to juveniles, a fourth-degree felony.

Judge Mark Kolmacic imposed a $20,000 cash or surety bond — $10,000 on each felony — which Steele has since posted, and set a pretrial hearing Aug. 20, court records show.

A Campbell police report states that a woman brought her daughter into the station on July 5, 2023, a couple days after the child informed her that a male relative — Steele – had touched her private areas on at least two occasions in 2018.

The report does not state how old the girl was at the time of the report or at the time of the alleged incidents, but it does state that the offenses occurred while the child and Steele were playing hide-and-seek. On another occasion, the girl told police, Steele was watching pornography on his computer and showed her what he was watching, the report states.

The report states that police referred the case to the Child Advocacy Center at Akron Children’s Boardman Campus.

Steele was arrested Sunday at a relative’s home, where he lives, after a passing officer noticed an unfamiliar vehicle in the driveway with all of its doors open. The officer called for backup so police could try to bring Steele in on the warrants.

The report states that the woman who answered the door said Steele was in the basement, but after police yelled down to him and identified themselves, he tried to say he was someone else and told police that Steele had left.

They eventually convinced him to come upstairs and arrested him without incident, the report states.