The priest admitted to law enforcement he should not have torched hard drive containing possible child abuse images

A pastor of an Archdiocese of Cincinnati parish has resigned from his post following complaints from parishioners over his admitted effort to destroy evidence of a fellow priest’s possession of pornographic images, including material that possibly involved the sexual abuse of children.

In a July 30 letter, Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr of Cincinnati told members of St. Susanna Parish in Mason, Ohio, that he had accepted the resignation of Father Barry Stechschulte. The archbishop appointed retired archdiocesan priest Father Jeff Kemper as temporary administrator of the parish.

Archbishop Schnurr’s announcement followed a July 27 letter to Father Stechschulte from “Parents for Action” — a self-described “collective of parishioners and parents of St. Susanna” whose tagline is “protecting our children” — asking the priest to step down amid concerns about his ability to…