CINCINNATI — An assistant principal at Aiken New Tech High School now faces eight additional sexual battery and grooming charges tied to four more teenage victims, according to Oct. 8 court records, as prosecutors expand a case against a longtime Cincinnati educator.
Steven Barton, 43, was booked into the Hamilton County Justice Center on Aug. 28 and originally indicted on five counts of sexual battery and one count of grooming. The new charges allege inappropriate sexual contact with four students — two aged 15 and two aged 17 — between April 2025 and February 2026.
Prosecutors allege Barton accessed school records to determine which classes students were in, then removed them from class and took them to private locations. The prosecutor’s office said he also took some students shopping, drove them to and from school, and sent them money through Cash App.
Across both cases, Barton now faces 11 felony counts of sexual battery and three misdemeanor counts of grooming. He has worked for Cincinnati Public Schools for 10 years, starting as a teacher at Evanston Academy in 2016. The district said he has been suspended since Aug. 28, his termination is pending, and he has had no access to students since his arrest.
