LOUISVILLE (KY)
Louisville Courier Journal
June 25, 2019
By Billy Kobin
A priest at a Catholic church in the Highlands resigned after he was accused of taking “inappropriate” photos of students during a field day at the end of the school year.
The Rev. Jeff Gatlin, pastor at St. Francis of Assisi, 1960 Bardstown Road, was accused of “inappropriate picture taking” of students during a May 13 field day celebrating the end of the parish school year, according to emails sent by church and Archdiocese of Louisville officials that were obtained by the Courier Journal.
The church’s school serves students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
Additional details on the alleged “inappropriate picture taking” were not released by the archdiocese. An archdiocesan spokeswoman was out of the office Tuesday and not available for comment until Wednesday, officials said.
In an email that St. Francis of Assisi School principal Steve Frommeyer shared with parents on May 20, Gatlin wrote “a number of concerns have been raised and accusations have been made about my actions of taking pictures of students at the field day activities.”
“Though I do not believe I have done anything wrong, I have asked Archbishop Kurtz to appoint a temporary administrator so that I can cooperate with a review of what occurred, as well as my overall ministry as pastor of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish,” Gatlin wrote.
His comments were also included in a May 24 bulletin sent to St. Francis of Assisi members.
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