Sex offender Charles Eric Waugh arrested for parole violation after contact with Ohio State recruits
Charles Eric Waugh, a registered sex offender who was at the center of a story surrounding a recruit decommitting from Ohio State, has been arrested for failing to comply with the Kentucky Sex Offender Registry.
Waugh, 31, of Ashland, Ky., met recruit Alex Anzalone and several other recruits following the Ohio State spring game on April 21. Waugh took several pictures with the recruits and posted them on his Twitter page. The page has since been taken down.
Anzalone had no knowledge of Waugh's background when that photo was taken; however, after learning Waugh was a registered sex offender, who had pleaded guilty to five counts of possession of underage sexual content in 2008, Anzalone pulled his commitment to the Buckeyes.
"You don't want your son to go to a place where there's a potential issue [like this]," Anzalone's father, Sal told the Reading (Pa.) Eagle last Friday. "You expect the [football] staff to have some sort of control on how things are handled with recruits when they visit. This is ridiculous."
Waugh, who also sent several messages to current players and recruits via social media, was in violation of Kentucky Revised Statute 17.546, which states sex offenders will not knowingly or intentionally use social networking websites to interact with a person who is under the age of 18.
The Kentucky State Police issued a statement Monday detailing Waugh's violation, including using the alias @Bdubstriviaguru on Twitter, and that the investigation is ongoing and more charges could be filed.
"Waugh allegedly failed to disclose to Probation and Parole the Internet communication name identities he was utilizing," the statement said. "The investigation revealed Waugh had Twitter, Facebook and email accounts under an alias name."
Upon learning of Waugh's interaction with student-athletes and recruits, Ohio State sent out an email to student-athletes warning them about Waugh and released a statement stating Waugh had no affiliation with the university and was not a booster.
Sal Anzalone, who originally appeared to condemn Ohio State on Friday for allowing Waugh to get close to his son, backed off those comments to the Reading (Pa.) Eagle on Sunday.
"I want people to understand, I have no beef with Ohio State, at all," Sal Anzalone said. "My issue is not with Ohio State: It's a great institution, they have a phenomenal president, Urban Meyer is nothing but a class act to me.
"There's nothing wrong with Ohio State; it's a great institution. When I said there was something wrong with Ohio State, I was talking about the visit - there was something wrong with the visit, not with Ohio State."
Sal Anzalone said that Meyer called Friday evening, but did not wish to provide any details about that conversation.
"We can't implicate Ohio State for what happened (during that visit)," Sal Anzalone said. "That's wrong. That had nothing to do with the university itself. I don't hold them accountable; they're not responsible for what fans do; it's not their fault."
Sal Anzalone said while is son is still decommitted from Ohio State, the Buckeyes are not totally off the board. Anzalone, who is one of the top linebacking recruits in the country, will reassess his recruiting options and speak to other schools before making a final decision.
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