KENTUCKY
The Courier-Journal
Chris Kenning, @ckenning_cj August 21, 2015
Louisville Catholic priest Stephen A. Pohl has resigned as pastor of St. Margaret Mary after investigators found child porn on his computer and that Pohl had taken “inappropriate” images of parish school children, Archdiocese of Louisville leaders said Friday.
An ongoing FBI investigation has found that Pohl had up to 200 photos of St. Margaret Mary schoolchildren on a computer, officials said. All were clothed, but some photos were deemed inappropriate by investigators. Investigators also told the archdiocese that Pohl also downloaded child porn on his personal computer.
“I personally, and all of our archdiocese, were deeply grieved” about the allegations and “the impact that this investigation will have on the faithful throughout the archdiocese,” Archbishop of Louisville Joseph Kurtz said at a news briefing Friday, when he pledged full cooperation and transparency.
Chancellor Brian Reynolds said the FBI cyber crimes investigation — prompted after a child told a family member about a photo that was taken that “bothered the child” — is still ongoing and could take months. The information the archdiocese shared Friday was from an interim investigation report officials received a day earlier.
Pohl, 57, who had been pastor of the parish at 7813 Shelbyville Road since 2008 and an ordained priest since 1985, was put on leave last week. On Thursday night, after Pohl resigned, the archdiocese shared the preliminary findings with an upset school staff and parents, offering counselors and information.
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