LOUISVILLE (KY)
WDRB [Louisville KY]
February 6, 2024
By Stephan Johnson
Jordan Fautz, the 39-year-old Louisville Catholic school teacher charged with distributing images of child pornography that had edited faces of students on them, will remain in custody after his attorney argued in federal court Tuesday he should be released.
The United States Department of Justice said Friday that Fautz, a seventh and eighth grade religion teacher at St. Stephen Martyr Catholic School, sent child sexual abuse materials to a law enforcement officer who was working undercover online.
Court documents say Fautz, 39, used yearbook photos of students and at least one adult from the school. The distributed images had photoshopped faces of students and the adult onto other nude images.
Fautz was brought into the federal courtroom Tuesday in shackles and a black and white jail-issued jumpsuit. With his parents, wife and some of his alleged victims watching, attorney Frank Mascagni argued that Fautz is neither a flight risk nor a danger to society and should be released from prison while he awaits trial.
“I think it’s a high bar when the expression is ‘Is he a danger to society,'” Mascagni said Tuesday. “I disagreed with a lot of that.”
The FBI said a folder sent by Fautz to an undercover agent contained 115 images of “mostly teenage girls, labeled with what appears to be their real names,” the FBI said.
“This folder contained non-pornographic images … that appear to have been taken at St. Stephen Martyr Catholic School and Church,” court documents say.
Some photos showed students wearing “clearly labeled red shirts” with the letters “SSM and in front of a “SSMCardinals” photo backdrop, investigators said.
FBI investigators also found that Fautz used the school’s computer system for some of what he’s charged with.
“Please keep our parish and school in your prayers as we deal with this very distressing situation,” St. Stephen Martyr Pastor Rev. Peter Bucalo said in a statement on the school’s website.
Archdiocesan and FBI officials held a meeting Saturday at the school to provide information to parents and answer their questions and concerns moving forward. St. Stephan Martyr Principal Stephanie Longshore said in a letter to parents Saturday that several action items came out of the meeting, including:
- Changing key access to buildings on campus
- Removing banners with students’ face from outside the school and taking town all school-related Facebook pages
- Rescinding all photo release permission slips previously signed by parents
- Looking into scanning the building to ensure no electronic devices were unlawfully installed
Buscalo and Longshore met with junior high classes Monday as they returned to school for the first time since Fautz’s arrest.
“I know these circumstances are anything but normal, but it is important for our children to return to normal school routines that will assist with the process of healing,” Longshore said in the letter to parents.
In a letter to St. Stephen Martyr parents dated Feb. 3, Archbishop Shelton Fabre said the archdiocese is “ready to provide assistance to the St. Stephen Martyr community.”
“I join with all in extending my deep concern and sorrow to the St. Stephen Martyr community as we deal with the very serious charges brought against Mr. Fautz by the Assistant U.S. Attorney,” Fabre wrote. “As we walk this difficult journey with the Lord Jesus Christ at our side, we strive to bring the hope, healing, and peace of Jesus Christ to all involved.
“I am asking all Catholics in the Archdiocese to keep the St. Stephen Martyr community in your prayers.”
Fautz is charged with distributing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse and distributing child pornography. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of five years and maximum penalty of 40 years in prison.
The judge ordered Fautz to remain in custody at the end of Tuesday’s hearing. He’s scheduled to be in court Feb. 26 for his arraignment.
The FBI is investigating and the FBI Louisville Field Office is looking to identify potential victims in the case. To contact the FBI, email SSMtips@fbi.gov.