Ex-Leet fire chief, wife charged in misconduct case involving junior firefighter

A former Leet Township fire chief and his wife were arrested Monday after investigators said she exposed herself to a teenage fire department volunteer and told him she was eager to have sex with him once he turned 18, according to Allegheny County Police.

Nathan Turner, 40, texted his wife, Stephanie Turner, 34, in July about her encounter a year earlier with the 14-year-old boy, a junior firefighter at Fair Oaks Fire Department, police said. The boy later told authorities the Turners “were like a second mom and dad to him.”

“I’m sorry, this sounds really bad but you gotta show off a bit for (the teen),” Turner told his wife, according to a criminal complaint. “I’m just saying some teasing.”

“Dude, you trying to get me arrested?!” Stephanie Turner responded, the complaint said.

The teen was inside the Turners’ Ambridge Avenue home in the summer of 2024 when Stephanie Turner “came out of the bathroom without a shirt or bra on,” the complaint said. She then pulled down her jeans.

“You literally took your pants off in front of him, spread your legs,” Nathan Turner later texted his wife, the complaint said.

“Yes I did,” she responded, according to the complaint.

Police said the boy later told them Stephanie Turner’s “actions made him feel uncomfortable.”

Sewickley Borough police first spotted the Turners’ texts in October, while downloading data from a Sewickley Water Authority cellphone its officers were using to investigate a theft case, the complaint said.

Police did not provide details about the theft case in the county police complaint.

Nathan Turner had used the cellphone in Sewickley Borough police custody when he worked at the water authority, the complaint said. His employment status was unclear Tuesday.

A TribLive reporter interviewed Stephanie Turner at the Ohio River Boulevard water authority this spring.

The water authority declined to comment Tuesday.

Stephanie Turner told TribLive in April she was “a support member” of the fire department and had been recruited to volunteer during a 2002 open house.

“That’s when my love for the fire department really started,” Turner said in the article. “Ever since, I’ve done whatever I can for them.”

While Allegheny County Police investigated the indecent exposure incident, Sewickley Borough police handled the theft case. Its officers did not return a phone call Tuesday seeking comment.

Volunteer firefighters in this small community of less than 700 homes on the Beaver County border distanced themselves this week from the Turners. In a statement, department leaders called charges against the couple “concerning.”

“Mr. Turner and his wife are no longer associated with the department and no longer participate in any capacity with the department,” Fair Oaks firefighters said Monday in a statement taped to the front door of the department’s Ambridge Avenue firehouse.

The alleged 2024 incident took place in the Turners’ home, which stands just five or six buildings down the street from the firehouse.

“The allegations against Mr. and Mrs. Turner are concerning and serious in nature,” the firefighters’ statement added. “They do not reflect the values and standards of the department, the fire service and the community.”

The firehouse, a squat building covered in blue aluminum siding, sat empty Tuesday morning. Nathan Turner resigned as the department’s chief in August.

The teenage victim told police Stephanie Turner began making comments to him in 2023 about “his butt looking nice in jeans,” the complaint said.

Those comments “evolved into her telling him that she wants to have sex with him when he turns 18 and that he needs to turn 18 faster,” police said.

Allegheny County Police charged both Stephanie and Nathan Turner Dec. 20 with two felonies — corruption of minors and unlawful contact with a minor — and misdemeanor counts, including indecent exposure and open lewdness. The couple also each face a summary harassment charge.

Stephanie Turner was arrested without incident on Monday, county police spokesman Jim Madalinsky told TribLive. Nathan Turner later turned himself in. Both of the Turners were taken to the Allegheny County Jail.

They were arraigned Monday, posted unsecured bond and were released, court records show.

Each defendant will make payment toward their bail — set at $20,000 for Nathan Turner and $25,000 for Stephanie Turner — if they do not appear at their preliminary hearings, jail officials told TribLive.

Those hearings are scheduled for Dec. 9. No attorneys were listed Tuesday for the Turners in court records.