12-07-2025
Warren drops out of PENNCREST race
Following accusations of patronizing prostitutes, PENNCREST school board candidate Matthew Warren has withdrawn from the ballot. He was one of 52 charged in connection with the Totally You Fitness Spa criminal investigation in which the fitness center was alleged to have acted as a front for commercial sex to buyers over a decade.
Warren has maintained his innocence, but the state has said it can track his credit card and phone statements back to the facility from 2020 to 2024, and the criminal complaint included a confession to police in 2024 that he engaged in massages with sexual acts.
After the charges were filed, there was an increase of scrutiny that Warren said ultimately drove him to stop campaigning.
'This decision was not made lightly, I've been unfairly targeted, and I refuse to allow those attacks to continue hurting the other candidates and the people I care about most,' Warren told The Meadville Tribune. 'I love my family, my friends and this community too much to let this continue.'
Warren ran on Christian and family-centric values, saying that he became a Christian a few years ago.
'After becoming a Christian a few years ago, I developed a strong calling to serve — whether through public office, community involvement or simply being a light in people's lives,' he said. 'That calling hasn't changed. I still intend to serve God, serve others and give back to the community I love — but I will find other ways to do so.'
Director of Elections Jessalyn McFarland confirmed that Warren submitted the required paperwork on Tuesday to be withdrawn from the ballot. Now, the Crawford County Republican Party must nominate someone to take his place on the ballot. McFarland said the party must decide by Sept. 15.
Requests for comment to Mike Forbes, chairman of the party, went unreturned.
Other Crawford County residents charged with patronizing prostitutes in the Totally You case include Steven Robert Test, 44, of Saegertown; Jamie Michael Bilich, 52, of Meadville; Garrett Robert Leech, 39, of Cambridge Springs; and Michael Thomas Stroud, 67, of Conneaut Lake. The preliminary hearings are set for Aug. 13 and 14 at Magisterial Judge Timothy Beveridge's office in Erie.
