DAYTON (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer / cincinnati.com
October 14, 2024
By Dan Horn
A Catholic priest who ordered the destruction of evidence police later said could have aided a child pornography investigation started a new job with the church Monday.
The Rev. Barry Stechschulte, who resigned in July as pastor of St. Susanna parish in Mason, now is the parochial vicar for a group of seven parishes north of Dayton, Ohio. He will join at least three other priests in leading the parishes in Coldwater, Philothea, Fort Recovery and Sharpsburg.
Archdiocese of Cincinnati spokesman Mike Schafer confirmed Stechschulte’s reassignment, which was effective Monday. Stechschulte did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Stechschulte admitted in a letter to St. Susanna parishioners in July that he’d ordered the destruction of a computer hard drive containing pornographic images while serving as pastor in 2012 at Holy Rosary Church in St. Marys, Ohio. He said he discovered the material on a computer that had been used by his predecessor, the Rev. Tony Cutcher, who was removed from ministry by the archdiocese in 2018 for sending inappropriate text messages to a boy.
A church deacon, Marty Brown, later told police he used a blow torch on the hard drive after Stechschulte instructed him to destroy it. Brown has since been placed on leave from active ministry, but Schafer declined to say why.
When asked if Stechschulte was disciplined or ordered to undergo additional training before beginning his new job, Schafer said he could not comment on personnel matters. He said he did not know whether the parishioners at Stechschulte’s new assignment had been formally told why the priest left his previous assignment.
After publicly admitting his role in the matter in July, Stechschulte apologized to parishioners and said he remained committed to “maintaining a safe environment” at St. Susanna, a large parish that also is home to a school. But after hundreds of parishioners signed a petition demanding he step down, Stechschulte resigned his post.
“The last couple of weeks have been difficult ones for all of us at St. Susanna,” Stechschulte wrote in his resignation letter. “It has become evident to me, after much prayer and discernment, that, for the good of our parish and school, I should step down as pastor, effective immediately.”