Charles Eric Waugh, a registered sex offender in Kentucky who came in contact with Ohio State student-athletes and recruits, in-person and on social media websites, was arrested Monday and held overnight at the Boyd County Detention Center in Kentucky.

An official from the Boyd County Detention Center confirmed Monday evening to The Lantern that Waugh, 31, of Ashland, Ky., violated his probation and also failed to comply with sex offender registration laws in Kentucky. The official said Waugh will not have bond and spent the night in the detention center.

“(Waugh)’s stuck here until we hear otherwise,” a second detention center official said.

After learning Waugh had been pictured with OSU student-athletes and recruits, OSU athletic director for compliance Doug Archie sent a warning email to Buckeye student-athletes.

“The university has become aware that an individual who is listed on Kentucky’s sex offender registry has recently been seen in pictures with our student-athletes,” Archie said in the Thursday email obtained by The Lantern, which was preceded by a warning text message to student-athletes.

Archie’s email to OSU student-athletes also contained an Internet link to a March 19, 2008, Daily Independent, in Ashland, Ky., report about Waugh entering “guilty pleas to five counts of possession of matter portraying sexual performances by minors.”
Waugh also made contacts with OSU student-athletes and coaches on Twitter using the Twitter handles, @BdubsTriviaGuru and @tOSUGuru.

In-person contacts between Waugh and OSU football recruits might have resulted in the decommitment of Wyomissing, Pa., linebacker Alex Anzalone.

Anzalone committed to the Buckeyes 2013 class on April 21, but decommitted Friday after news of Waugh’s status as a sex offender went viral.

Alex Anzalone’s father, Dr. Sal Anzalone, told the Reading (Pa.) Eagle that he does not blame OSU coach Urban Meyer for what happened during his son’s visit to Columbus.

“There’s nothing wrong with Ohio State; it’s a great institution,” Sal Anzalone told the Reading Eagle. “When I said there was something wrong with Ohio State, I was talking about the visit – there was something wrong with the visit, not with Ohio State.”

The Anzalones did not respond to The Lantern’s Monday evening request for comment.

Charlene Waugh, Charles Waugh’s mother, told The Lantern she had “no comment” Monday and then hung up the phone.

Charlene Waugh had previously said that plans were in the works to “clear her son’s name” Tuesday.

“We’re good Christian people. (Charles) is also a Christian boy,” Charlene Waugh told The Lantern Thursday. “He’s been saved. He’s been baptized. He’s been on probation for four years and he hasn’t had no problems or anything. This situation right here’s the only thing we’ve had in our family.”

Waugh’s attorney, Michael Curtis, did not respond to a Monday evening request for comment.

The OSU athletic department released a Friday statement about Waugh.

“The issue surrounding the individual from Kentucky is being treated by the Department of Athletics as a student-athlete welfare issue,” the release said. “When the University became aware that this individual had been seen in pictures – taken in public places – with student-athletes, proactive precautions were taken and the Department of Athletics alerted more than 1,000 OSU student-athletes about this person.

“This individual is not associated with Ohio State. He is not a booster. He has not engaged in any activities on behalf of the University. The Department of Athletics will continue to monitor this issue and it will remain proactive in its efforts with regard to precautions for its student-athletes.”

Waugh gained a negative reputation among some users of the social media platform for his frequent attempts to contact OSU coaches and student-athletes on Twitter, and some tweets between Waugh and student-athletes had been deleted as of Monday evening.