CLEVELAND — A former Ohio police officer pleaded guilty Monday to felony charges.
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Michael Bernhardt, a former Rocky River police officer, pleaded guilty to three counts of unauthorized use of the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway, according to WOIO, a CBS affiliate in Cleveland.
Prosecutors said Bernhardt ran illegal searches on several people, including Rocky River students and their family members, other officers and colleagues, and school teachers and administrators.
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He also ran searches on his own family and ex-spouses, WOIO reported.
Prosecutors said his searches were related to an “obsessive and inappropriate relationship with students.”
Bernhardt, who was a former school resource officer at Rocky River High School, was investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation starting in October 2023.
He left the Rocky River Police Department in April 2024.
WOIO reported that he’ll be sentenced next month.
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