CINCINNATI — The FBI is worried Oak Hills Local Schools students could have been victimized by an elementary school teacher after he allegedly made online claims of sexually assaulting children, according to emails obtained by WCPO.
Mark Altherr, 45, was arrested in late July after FBI agents found him in a hotel room with a nude, pre-pubescent child and determined he'd possessed and exchanged child pornography, according to a federal criminal complaint.
A federal judge ordered Altherr to remain in the Butler County Jail pending his trial. Altherr faces one federal charge of distribution of child pornography and one federal count of possession of child pornography.
Following news of Altherr's arrest, we submitted a public records request to the Oak Hills School District for Altherr's district personnel records, including but not limited to his job application, work performance evaluations, complaints about him and internal reports and investigations concerning his conduct on and off the job.
Additionally, we requested a copy of all written and electronic records, including emails, documenting communications concerning the criminal investigation and possible termination of Altherr.
On Thursday, the school district returned more than 100 pages of documents relating to our request.
Altherr accepted a job at Delshire Elementary School in the Oak Hills Local Schools District in 2019. He's been employed as a fitness education teacher since then. Prior to his time in Cincinnati, Altherr spent nearly two decades teaching in several schools in Colorado.
His records do not indicate any past complaints or disciplinary actions.
On Monday, the OHLSD Board of Education voted to move forward with Altherr's termination process. Before that, on July 30, the district sent a letter to parents and staff notifying them of allegations against Altherr and stating that he'd been placed on unpaid administrative leave.
That statement was also shared with the media, but it went through a few revisions before it was sent out. We reviewed emails exchanged between a school district official and a local FBI spokesperson, which briefly discussed the nature of the investigation against Altherr.
In a draft version of the public statement, the school district included a paragraph that assured "at this time, we have no reason to suspect that the criminal allegations involved any Oak Hills student, or that any activity took place on school grounds or during school hours."
The FBI spokesperson told the school district official the agency had concerns about that sentence. The spokesperson said there is a possibility there could be student victims.
"From an FBI perspective, we are early in the investigation and at this point we cannot say for certain no students were harmed and no activities happened at school," the FBI spokesperson said. "We need time to go through all the Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM)."
The FBI is encouraging anyone who believes they or someone they know could have been a victim of Altherr's actions to fill out a short online form.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Kenneth Parker told reporters after Altherr's federal court hearing last week that he was asking parents for help identifying any potential additional victims.
"Make sure they don't feel embarrassed, give them that open space to come forward and talk to us," said Parker. "We're urging any and every person to come forward so that we can hold him to the highest level of accountability."
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