Mom Demands Accountability After “Grooming” Evidence Overlooked
STEUBEN COUNTY, IN – When a mother’s 17-year-old daughter first received a series of cryptic, persistent phone calls a few months ago, she assumed they were spam. But time would reveal, the digital trail led back to a former “favorite teacher” at Pleasant Lake’s Ace Academy, sparking a mother’s relentless battle for accountability across state lines.
The Mother, Cassandra Reser, says the situation escalated rapidly when her daughter decided to text the unknown number back. What followed, according to screenshots provided by the family, was a barrage of inappropriate messages.
“She baited him in,” Cassandra says, explaining how her daughter managed to unmask the harasser. “She swore on her brother’s life—which is the most important thing to her—that she wouldn’t tell anyone if he just told her who he was. He said, ‘It’s Mr. Owens.’ She freaked out.”
A Failed First Report
According to Cassandra, the family’s first attempt at seeking justice was met with silence. After identifying the person who sent the messages as O’Shea Owens—a former teacher, high school baseball coach, and university employee—Cassandra took the evidence to the Angola City Police Department.
“I kind of had a feeling like this cop was going to overlook it, and he did,” Cassandra says. “A couple of days later, I’m calling the police station and they’re like, ‘We don’t have a report.’ I’m like, ‘What?’”
The confusion continued at the courthouse, where Cassandra says she was bounced between offices while trying to file a protective order. “I had to leave three times because they needed this man’s address. It was just a whole mess.”
The State Police Step In
Refusing to back down, Cassandra returned to the prosecutor’s office, this time with a clear ultimatum. “I handed the paperwork to the lady and said, ‘Look, you’re a mom. If you don’t want to see me every single day, just at least listen to me this one time. I just need one person to hear what I’m saying and read these messages,’” Cassandra recalls.
The persistence paid off. Within minutes, a Detective from the Indiana State Police emerged to review the screenshots. “He said, ‘I’m not understanding why the City Police have not done anything and sent it over to the prosecutor’s office,’” Cassandra says. “He told me, ‘From this second on, the Indiana State Police will be taking this case over.’”
“I Won’t Stop”
While Owens has reportedly moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, the legal process in Indiana is moving forward. A temporary protective order was granted on April 17 after Owens failed to appear in court.
The betrayal is felt most deeply because of the trust Owens once held. He was her daughter’s favorite teacher when she was 15, a dynamic that Cassandra says makes the accused “grooming” behavior even more disturbing.
“The fact that he’s a teacher, that’s what gets me,” Cassandra says. “You waited for a whole year? To say, ‘I’m thinking about you, boo’? It’s disgusting. I can’t move a mountain, but I’ll start standing in front of one for my kids.”
Where This Now Stands
The road to accountability has been marked by a confusing web of bureaucratic dead ends. Over the past week, we reached out to the Circuit Court in Angola, the Indiana State Police, and the Prosecutor’s office, only to be redirected multiple times.
Despite investigator Pat Reardon keeping an office within the Steuben County Prosecutor’s building, the Prosecutor himself claimed to have no knowledge of the investigation. O’Shea Owens was reached for comment regarding these accusations, but he has not responded as of the time of publication.
The push for criminal charges hit a final roadblock last week when Investigator Reardon informed Cassandra that authorities would not be moving forward with a case, citing her daughter’s age. While the criminal case has stalled, Cassandra’s resolve has not.
With a protective order currently in place, she maintains that her fight is far from over. “The system may have stopped,” she says, “but I haven’t.”
