Judge places former Newport teacher on probation following sexual assault allegations

The former culinary arts program director at Newport Area Career and Technical Center who was accused of second-degree sexual assault against one of his students has been sentenced to two years probation after pleading no contest to reduced charges.

Steven Kalble, 70, originally plead not guilty when he was arraigned in January 2020 over accusations from a then-16-year-old student of his who claimed Kalble had started touching her inappropriately and, one one occasion, committed unwanted sexual acts on her in the walk-in freezer after school. These accusations came to light after the student confided in her history teacher that Kalble had allegedly been sending her inappropriate text messages and emails since March of that year.

Kalble’s original charge of second degree sexual assault, a felony, was amended to two counts of simple assault and battery, misdemeanors, on March 28, 2024, nearly five years after Kalble was arrested. That same day, during a pre-trial hearing, Kalble pleaded no contest to the new charges and Superior Court Associate Justice William E. Carnes Jr. sentenced Kalble to two consecutive years of probation, one per count.

Christopher Gontarz, Kalble's attorney, declined to comment on the case and its conclusion, citing attorney-client privilege.

In Rhode Island, “Nolo Contendere” means the defendant is not challenging the charges they face, but not formally pleading guilty. According to Rhode Island’s General Laws, a person who pleads nolo contendere and completes the probationary period without violating the terms of their probation will not be considered convicted of the crime.

In the four years between Kalble’s arraignment and Carnes’ disposition, the state and Kalble’s lawyers went back and forth over elements of the case as a part of the pre-trial and discovery process. According to court records, the state originally argued the incident in the walk-in took place sometime between April 1 and April 30, 2019, but Kalble had an alibi that he was out of the state for the majority of that time. The state later requested to amend the charge, extending the range of dates that the assault possibly took place from March 1, 2019, to June 15, 2019, to which they needed confirmation from the complaining witness, who said that she could not recall the date the incident took place, but still affirmed the incident happened.

The state’s motion to amend was denied, but later motions and objections were rendered moot on March 28, 2024, when Kalble's attorney and the prosecution negotiated his charges down and Kalble accepted his new nolo contendere plea agreement.

Kalble had been put on unpaid administrative leave in June 2019 following the accusations. A month prior, he had been named Newport Teacher of the Year for the 2019-2020 school year. He had served as the chief instructor for the NACTC culinary program.