ST. BERNARD (OH)
Cincinnati Enquirer
By Janice Morse
Enquirer staff writer
ST. BERNARD - A man who serves as a storefront minister here and a bus driver for Princeton schools faces federal child-pornography charges, federal officials said today.
Robert Elms, 49, also known as Father Dominic Elms of St. Mary's Traditional Catholic Church, surrendered today to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Cincinnati. A federal criminal complaint charges him with possessing and distributing child pornography.
A U.S. District Magistrate Judge ordered Elms jailed without bond awaiting a hearing Thursday afternoon. Officials did not disclose where he was jailed.
It remained unclear if Elms is an ordained minister, but he is not affiliated with the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, authorities said. Elms had worked as a bus driver for Princeton City Schools for 14 years and was placed on a medical leave today after school officials received a report he was sick.
The charges against Elms stem from German authorities' investigation of a child pornography operation there a year ago, officials said. Immigration investigators in Virginia traced e-mails to Elms, then forwarded information to the Cincinnati immigration officials, court records indicated.