CINCINNATI (OH)
WKRC-TV, CBS-12 [Cincinnati OH]
July 30, 2024
By David Winter
Tri-State priest resigns after destruction of potentially criminal evidence
CINCINNATI (WKRC) – The resignation of a popular local priest is sending shockwaves throughout a Tri-State community.
The pastor at St. Susanna Catholic Parish in Mason has stepped down after he admitted to ordering the destruction of pornography and photos of young boys. He said they were on another priest’s computer at a different church.0 seconds of 3 minutes, 8 secondsVolume 90% (WKRC)
Father Barry Stechschulte resigned on Monday after a groundswell of condemnation by many of the 14,000 people who attend St. Susanna in Mason. The resignation came four years after the pastor arrived.
The welcome note Father Stechschulte wrote in 2020 when he arrived at St. Susanna is in stark contrast to the note on the church’s website four years later, stating, “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.”
The resignation came two weeks later. In a letter to the St. Susanna Community, Father Stechschulte admitted to poorly handling a potentially illegal act at a previous parish. Stechschulte is referring to his time at the Holy Rosary Church in St. Mary’s, about 50 miles north of Dayton.
He wrote that in 2012, shortly after becoming a pastor there, he found computer files on the previous pastor’s computer that shocked and disgusted him. He said he ordered the hard drive destroyed. Six years later, in 2018, he said he went to the police. In the police report related to the incident, Stechschulte told detectives the files he found were porn videos and pictures of shirtless boys in provocative poses. The boys ranged from eight to 10 in age.
Police investigated but didn’t charge the other pastor because, among other things, the evidence had been destroyed.
Local 12 spoke to the executive director of an organization that documents the abuse crisis in the Catholic Church worldwide.
“In a way, this is really good news today because it shows the power of alert, vigilant parishioners who are taking responsibility for their church,” said Ann Barrett-Doyle with Bishop Accountability. “You know, acting as equal adults in the Catholic Church in a way that we lay people have failed to do sometimes in the past.”
While praising the parishioners, there were harsh words for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati.
“The fact that this pastor destroyed criminal evidence and sat on it, then failed to report it for another six years,” said Barrett-Doyle. “And yet, even after that was exposed, his act, he was allowed to continue running St. Susanna’s. That’s shocking.”
In his note to parishioners, Father Stechschulte said he’s stepping down to be reassigned elsewhere in the Archdiocese. Archbishop Dennis Schnurr from the Cincinnati Archdiocese released a statement Tuesday afternoon. He did not mention a reassignment for Father Stechschulte, but did say he is “thankful for his dedicated service these past four years to the St. Susanna community.”
He went on to say that he has “appointed Father Jeff Kemper, a retired priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, as temporary administrator of St. Susanna Parish, until such time as a permanent pastor is identified.”