Kentucky Catholic school teacher charged with using yearbook images in altered child porn
An arrest warrant has been issued for a Catholic school teacher in Kentucky who allegedly used Photoshop to transpose school yearbook photos onto nude images of minors and distributed them to others.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Kentucky announced last Friday that 39-year-old Jordan A. Fautz, a former teacher at St. Stephen Martyr Catholic School in Louisville, was being charged with distributing child pornography and distributing obscene visual representations of child sexual abuse.
If convicted, Fautz faces five to 40 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and at least five years of supervised release.
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According to the Attorney’s Office, while Fautz had been employed as a junior high religion teacher (seventh and eighth grades) at St. Stephen, he allegedly “distributed child sexual abuse materials to a law enforcement officer working online undercover.”
“Certain of these materials had been manipulated by morphing or photoshopping original child sexual abuse materials with other, non-explicit images of minors,” stated the office.
“For example, in one such instance, the nude image of a minor victim depicted her face transposed by means of photoshop or morphing technology onto a different nude female’s body, effectively generating child sexual abuse material.”
According to local news station WDRB, "Court documents say Fautz used yearbook photos of students and at least one adult from the school."
The Most Rev. Shelton J. Fabre, head of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Louisville, sent a letter to the St. Stephen Martyr Parish on Saturday in response to the investigation.
“As we walk this difficult journey with the Lord Jesus Christ at our side, we strive to bring the hope, healing, and peace of Jesus Christ to all involved,” wrote Fabre.
“I want you to know that the Archdiocese, the parish, and the school are fully cooperating with law enforcement as they continue the investigation. We stand ready to provide assistance to the St. Stephen Martyr community.”
Additionally, representatives from both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Archdiocese met with school officials, with Principal Stephanie Longshore explaining in a letter that school-related Facebook pages, which include banners featuring the faces of students, had been taken down as a precaution.
“Those in attendance expressed many concerns about the security of the campus in light of Mr. Fautz’s role in maintenance. We are making arrangements to have the buildings re-keyed. We will do this as soon as possible,” wrote Longshore.
“Questions were asked about having the building scanned to ensure that there are no other electronic devices present. We are investigating this process.”
Longshore also noted that there were conversations with parents about whether to return to school the following Monday, with the principal emphasizing the need for a return to normalcy.
“Our first concern is our children,” she continued. “I know these circumstances are anything but normal, but it is important for our children to return to normal school routines that will assist with the process of healing.”
