Accused priest to be extradited in 30 to 40 days

By Matthew Glowicki
Courier-Journal
August 26, 2015

http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/crime/2015/08/26/accused-priest-extradited-30-40-days/32424019/

Steve Pohl

Louisville Rev. Stephen Pohl, charged Monday in a federal court with accessing child pornography, isn't expected to return to Kentucky for another 30 to 40 days, according to the U.S. Marshals Service of the Western District of Kentucky.

Pohl resigned Thursday, Aug. 20 from his post as pastor of St. Margaret Mary Parish amid an FBI and Louisville Metro Police investigation into child pornography images that police said Pohl viewed on two computers in the parish rectory where he lived and worked.

He was arrested Friday by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office in Florida, appeared in U.S. District Court in Tampa, Fla. on Monday and is now in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

U.S. Marshals will transport Pohl using the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System, a service that moves hundreds of prisoners in the federal judicial system between districts, correctional institutions and countries each day, according to the U.S. Marshals website.

An official for the local U.S. Marshals Service declined to say exactly when Pohl will be extradited, citing security concerns.

Pohl, 57, is expected to next appear in U.S. District Court in Louisville for a detention hearing. He was appointed a public defender in Florida, court records show, but told the judge he will have private counsel when he appears in Louisville.

The priest was put on leave last week by the Archdiocese of Louisville, which publicly shared preliminary findings of the police investigation Friday. The parish community was told their pastor snapped up to 200 images of schoolchildren, some of which were "inappropriate."

More than 150 photos of clothed St. Margaret Mary students were found on the ex-pastor's computer, some of which constitute child erotica, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday.

Pohl faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and at least five years of supervised release, if convicted.