Former Stoneham School Admin Commits Suicide in Jail, Authorities Say

Photo: Steven Orloff. Credit: Framingham Police.

By Susan Petroni

The former Stoneham Public Schools director of student services who was facing federal sex charges died Sunday in an apparent suicide in Essex County Jail, according to authorities.

Steven Orloff, 49, of Framingham, died of a “hanging,” according to the Essex County Sheriff’s Office.

Corrections officers were conducting a count of inmates late Sunday morning and discovered Orloff was not in his bed. They searched for him and found him hanging in the shower at 11:45 a.m, the Salem Evening News reported.

Corrections officers tried to save Orloff, according to the newspaper. He was pronounced dead at 12:30 p.m. at Beverly Hospital, according to the sheriff’s department.

Orloff had been at Essex County Jail in Middleton since December 2013.

He worked in the Stoneham Public Schools until he was placed on leave following his arrest in December 2012. He was Arlington Public Schools assistant director of special education until 2011. Previously, he worked in Natick schools.

According to authorities, Orloff posed as a 14-year-old boy to solicit nude and explicit photos and videos from minor girls across the country. Orloff also allegedly secretly taped two minor girls showering in his Framingham home.