YOUNGSTOWN — News that Capt. Jason Simon of the Youngstown Police Department was terminated from a part-time teaching position at Youngstown State University on Feb. 25 has led to revelations that he lost a similar part-time teaching position at Kent State University at Trumbull in 2018 for misconduct with a female student.

Simon is head of the detective division of the Youngstown Police Department and a 24-year veteran of the department.

Documents provided to The Vindicator by YSU and the Ohio Police Officers Training Academy revealed the details of the Kent State issues and other matters.

A letter provided by OPOTA states that KSU Trumbull employee Sally Kurilchick received a text message Dec. 19, 2018, from a female stating that another female she knows, who was taking a class taught by Simon in the KSU Trumbull Police Academy, was in a sexual relationship with Simon.

The letter states the university’s human resources office advised Kurilchick that the relationship constituted a violation of university policy and Simon was asked to talk to Kurilchick.

That afternoon, Simon admitted to the relationship, “knew that it was wrong and was willing to take full responsibility for his actions,” the letter states.

Kurilchick advised Simon he could no longer serve as an instructor at KSU Trumbull and she would report him to OPOTA, which Simon said concerned him because of the effect it might have on his job with the Youngstown Police Department. Kurilchick “told him that I was not going to call them,” the letter states.

A Jan. 28, 2019, notice from the Ohio Peace Officers Training Commission to Simon advised him that his Peace Officer Basic Training Instructor Certificate had been revoked. It meant Simon was “no longer permitted to perform the functions of a Peace Officer Basic Training Instructor within the State of Ohio, the notice stated.

OPOTA and the Ohio Peace Officers Training Commission are both under the umbrella of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

The notice stated the reason for the revocation was “improper conduct toward a female student while teaching as a (Peace Officer Basic Training) instructor.” It added that Simon “engaged in conduct that does not reflect favorably as a (Peace Officer Basic Training) instructor.”

Another document provided by OPOTA contained a Jan. 15, 2020, email from attorney Carolyn Gutowski to Kurilchick, stating that she represented the Youngstown Police Department, and “it recently came to their attention that Captain Simon’s OPOTA (instructor) certification was revoked due possibly to misconduct. We are trying to determine what happened in order to address this issue with Captain Simon if necessary.”

Richard Hardy, assistant executive director of Ohio Peace Officer Training Commission, responded to Gutowski that Simon was issued a “Notice of Revocation on Jan. 28, 2019, specific to his instructor certification. No action was applied to his basic peace officer certification,” he stated.

On March 7, 2022, Simon applied to OPOTA for certification to be a firearms requalification instructor, listing qualifications, such as Youngstown police officer since 2000 and having attended training in the days before March 7 to qualify with a semiautomatic pistol.

When Simon was asked on the application form whether he had ever been “investigated, disciplined or terminated for any matters alleging theft, falsification, dishonesty, violence, immorality, ethical misconduct and / or sexual misconduct,” he checked the “no” box.

His application was denied June 28, 2022. A letter from the Ohio Peace Officers Training Commission stated that he was “not permitted to perform the functions of a firearms requalification instructor within the State of Ohio” and cited Simon’s 2019 revocation of his Peace Officer Basic Training Instructor Certificate.

It also stated that Simon was previously “ordered to complete sexual harassment training” and was “dishonest on your Firearms Re-qualification Instructor application by answering ‘no’ to the background question which reads ‘Have you ever been investigated, disciplined or terminated for any matters alleging theft, falsification, dishonesty, violence, immorality, ethical misconduct and/or sexual misconduct?'”

OPOTA documents state that Simon had been a part-time instructor with Youngstown State University starting Sept. 12, 2001, and became full time at the Youngstown Police Department on Nov. 17, 2000. He earned his OPOTA basic training certificate Aug. 3, 2000, and it is still active.

The Vindicator asked YSU for documents associated with Simon’s termination from YSU and received a copy of the Feb. 25, 2025, letter it sent to Simon. It stated that Simon’s employment “ends effective this date,” adding “You shall no longer serve as a part time instructor, intermittent police officer or act in a volunteer capacity.”

He was told to make arrangements to return “all YSU property in your possession,” including keys, computer, parking pass, employee identification cards and to “retrieve any personal belongings you have on campus.”

The letter did not give a reason for the termination, but attached to the letter was one of the documents also provided by OPOTA — the 2018 Kent State document that describes the information a KSU Trumbull student reported to KSU Trumbull employee Kurilchick about Simon having a sexual relationship with a student in his class and Kurilchick reporting it to OPATA.

The Vindicator asked Becky Rose, the university’s director of marketing and communications, if she could clarify the connection between Simon’s 2018 issues at KSU Trumbull and Simon’s termination from teaching at YSU in February.

She stated in an email that “Once the Kent State University incident report came to the attention of Youngstown State University, steps were taken to terminate Simon’s employment.”

She also clarified that the OPOTA teaching certificate that Simon lost in 2019 is required to teach in the YSU Police Academy, “but when his part-time employment at YSU was terminated last month, Simon was serving as a part-time instructor in the Criminal Justice Department. An OPOTA certificate is not required to teach in the academic department of Criminal Justice as part-time faculty.”

She further clarified that Simon “did not teach in the (YSU) Police Academy after his OPOTA certificate was revoked.” Simon “sporadically covered classes in the YSU Police Academy” when he still had his OPOTA teaching certificate prior to 2019, she stated.

The Youngstown Mayor’s Office was asked by email this week whether Simon’s loss of his OPOTA teaching certificate and ability to teach at Kent State and Youngstown State might affect his employment with the Youngstown Police Department.

“The allegations related to Captain Simon’s employment at Kent State were brought to the city’s attention at the time,” the response from the mayor’s office and Youngstown Police Department stated.

“It was reviewed and determined then that there was no direct nexus between the complaint and his employment with the Youngstown Police Department. However, in light of new reports, we are reviewing this information thoroughly.”

The remark regarding “new reports” was not explained in the statement, and it was not included in an earlier statement from the city regarding the Simon matter.

Simon did not respond to a request for comment.