On Sunday, February 18, Frank Scaglione, the weatherman for the Des Moines KCCI-TV station, was accused by several local teen boys of soliciting sexual relationships with them. As of the following Monday, he no longer works for the company.   

According to the accusers, Scaglione used social media, specifically SnapChat, to connect with them. It was seen as cool to have the local weatherman on Snapchat, so this alone wasn’t very alarming or strange to most people. What did seem strange to some was that he would almost exclusively add, respond to, and snap boys under the age of 18.  

Within the allegations, there were several accounts of Scaglione asking boys how old they were and other personal questions, eventually working his way up to requesting they meet him for lunch dates, go to his house, or send inappropriate pictures of themselves. He also sent them shirtless pictures and unsolicited pictures of his genitals.  

One of the teens said they had added Scaglione a few months ago, not expecting to be added back. After he was added back, he sent Scaglione a joke about the weather. The joke was ignored, and the boy was asked for his age, instead. He later asked the boy to come over and, after the request was denied, he began to send inappropriate messages and pictures. The boy blocked him immediately, but was then contacted by Scaglione on Twitter who asked, “Did you delete me on snap?”  

Another boy, who was 17 at the time of their interaction said that Scaglione added him in March of 2017. The boy added him back without knowing who he was. Scaglione asked him to start a streak and after being told no, he, again, began sending shirtless pictures, later asking the boy to send some in return. The teen told Scaglione that he wasn’t gay and was in a relationship. He persisted, asking the boy to meet up for lunch and even offered up his car for the boy to use for prom. He went as far as asking about the boy’s genitals and asking the boy to consider a homosexual relationship. After a little while, the boy stopped responding.  

A third accuser claims to have had a sexual relationship with Scaglione for over a year, when he was 16. He said that he added Scaglione because everyone he knew had and he wanted to see what the craze was about. Scaglione added him back and the pair began sending snaps back and forth before Scaglione began sending inappropriate pictures. He kept asking the boy to come to his house and eventually, the boy did, and their relationship began. The boy claims that they hooked up at least 10 times.  

Scaglione has not yet been charged with any crimes.  

In an interview with the Des Moines Register in May of 2017, he told the interviewer that he “wants to be a resource to young people – try to set a good example, be reachable and interact-able”. Those words are nice to hear and would be good in practice. Unfortunately, if the allegations are true, Scaglione has done the exact opposite.  

He should have used his relatively small amount of fame to set the good example he spoke of for the youth that he targeted. Instead, he abused the power that he held. He manipulated at least one boy, probably more, and he sexually harassed or had the intention of sexually harassing many more. People in positions like his, people with varying levels of fame in any community, should use that fame and popularity to inspire and motivate the younger generations to do more with their lives and to be more. People like that should try their hardest to be role models for today’s youth, not their predators.