PORTSMOUTH — A jury of seven women and five men found former Be Great for Nate (BG4N) Executive Director Steven Peterson not guilty of indecent solicitation of a minor just a few hours after closing arguments in Newport Superior Court on Wednesday, June 5.

Peterson, now 28, was alleged to have asked a a minor — a 15-year-old freshman at Portsmouth High School and a member of BG4N — to send a photo of his penis to another minor during a late-night text conversation on Jan. 8, 2022.

Peterson was arrested two months later, on March 15, after the boy’s mother, Samantha Younger, learned about the texts and contacted Portsmouth Police. Peterson was arrested that same day after police reviewed the text thread and interviewed Younger and her son. He was dismissed from BG4N, which shut down operations shortly afterwards due to problems attracting grants, and later voluntarily surrendered his clinical social license.

Under direct and cross-examination on Tuesday, June 4, Peterson stated he never asked the boy to send a nude photo to himself. He also said he merely pretended there was a nude photo of the boy “out there” after hearing a rumor that the minor had sent one.

The "ruse," he said, was to get the boy to admit he had sent a nude photo. After a back-and-forth discussion in which the minor adamantly denied sending any nude photos, Peterson said he was satisfied that he was telling the truth. 

Peterson’s attorney, John MacDonald, implied that the text exchange ended with a “learning lesson,” something the prosecution and the boy, who also took the stand, strongly disagreed with.

Samantha Younger, expressed her disappointment with the verdict during a brief interview. 

“A not-guilty verdict didn’t mean it didn’t happen,” she said, adding there was “tangible evidence” to prove the charges.

Closing arguments heard

Associate Justice William E. Carnes, Jr. gave jury instructions last Wednesday, followed by closing arguments made by the defense and prosecution teams.

In his closing statement, MacDonald reminded jurors that during his opening on June 4, he was “going to show you the rest of the story,” borrowing a line from the late radio commentator Paul Harvey.

MacDonald said Peterson “dedicated his professional career to helping young students,” and now the “unbelievably great” BG4N program is no more.

“And that is the real shame of this case,” he said.

The defense attorney pointed out there was no indecent image to begin with, and Peterson was merely using a ruse in hopes of finding out whether the boy had sent one after hearing rumors. 

The boy, Peterson maintained, had admitted sending a nude photo in the past to a middle school girl, a claim the boy denied.

The prosecution maintained that Peterson admitted twice that he had asked the boy to send a nude photo of himself to another minor. At the bear minimum, the state proved the defendant attempted to get a minor to commit an immoral act, the prosecution argued.

The jury that decided Peterson’s fate hailed from throughout Newport County — six from Portsmouth, three from Jamestown, two from Middletown, and one from Tiverton.

For detailed coverage of Tuesday’s testimony, go here.

NOTE: A previous story about the trial should have made it clear that the name of the minor, "Oliver," was a pseudonym. That story has since been corrected to reflect that.