CINCINNATI — A 45-year-old fitness education teacher employed with Oak Hills School District was arrested 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.
Mark Altherr faces one federal charge of distribution of child pornography and one federal count of possession of child pornography. He appeared in federal court Thursday where he was ordered to remain in detention until his trial.
The federal court documents say the FBI believes that beginning at least in December of 2023 and continuing into July 2024, Altherr distributed sexually explicit material depicting children on a website.
The site, launched around 2019, specifically describes itself as "a child pornography community," the court documents say.
The FBI's investigation showed Altherr was an active member of that website and posted files to it, some of which depicted child pornography, according to court documents. The FBI determined Altherr had been using the site since 2021 and that, in that time, he made at least 262 posts on the site — some of which were made just six months ago, according to court documents.
Altherr allegedly replied to a thread titled "3 to 5 year old cuties only," in which there were nude images of children. In another instance, Altherr allegedly replied to a thread that depicted children engaged in sexual acts with an adult man.
In other posts, Altherr allegedly described his own sexual abuse of children, including involving a "10 year old neighbor," an "8 year old who had a crush on me" and a "4 year old I was looking after."
The FBI determined that Altherr was a teacher after finding a post on the Delshire Elementary Facebook page in 2019 that welcomed Altherr as the school's new fitness teacher at the Delhi Township school.
"I'm excited to start my first year at Delshire Elementary!" reads the post introducing Altherr.
As of July 30, Altherr was no longer listed on the Oak Hills School District website as a staff member. In a statement to WCPO, the district said Altherr has been placed on administrative leave and "is prohibited from being on school grounds or having any contact with students or staff" at this time.
"Based on the evidence presented, the board of education intends to initiate termination proceedings," the district said. "The Oak Hills Local School District is working closely with and fully cooperating with the FBI and law enforcement agents regarding the ongoing investigation. When more information becomes available, and legally permissible, we will share it with families and the community."
Because they learned Altherr was a teacher, FBI agents believed it was "necessary" to find Altherr. On July 26, they went to his home in Cincinnati but found he was not there, court documents say. A ping of his cellphone showed investigators that he was at a public location in Columbus, Ohio, according to the FBI.
An FBI agent was dispatched to that location in Columbus, where they found Altherr's vehicle, court documents say.
"At approximately 7:54 p.m. on July 26, 2024, the Agent observed an individual fitting the description of Altherr enter the vehicle with a minor female," reads the criminal complaint filed against Altherr.
Agents watched as Altherr drove himself and the child to a hotel in the Columbus area, the document says. That same day, agents reviewed images posted by Altherr to the website, including images depicting sexual abuse of children. Based on that, FBI agents said they believed the child with Altherr was "in imminent danger when she entered the hotel with Altherr," the criminal complaint says.
As a result, agents executed a probable cause arrest on Altherr. Once he was arrested, the agents went inside his hotel room and discovered a young girl, completely nude, the document says.
Later that same evening, FBI agents executed a search warrant on Altherr's Cincinnati home. During that search, electronics at Altherr's home were found to have both images and videos depicting sexual abuse against children, some as young as 3-to-4 years old.
Intrust IT Cyber Security Consultant David Hatter said he wasn't surprised that a website expressly advertising itself as existing "to serve the pedophile community around the globe" was online.
Hatter said such a website could continue to exist, despite best efforts to remove it, for a number of reasons.
"First, it could be hidden inside of something," he said.
Hatter said the illegal material could be hidden in a part of an otherwise unremarkable website, or the entire website could be hidden on the Dark Web where it's harder for investigators to track people associated with illegal material.
The website could also be based in a country where U.S. law means nothing.
"Let's say a country where they turned a blind eye to this sort of thing or, frankly, just don't care," Hatter said.
Hatter said the fact an FBI agent was embedded in the password account-protected website, according to the criminal complaint, was proof that agents are actively investigating and no U.S.-based users would be safe.
"I'm glad that law enforcement agencies are out there to try to put an end to this because, again, reading that complaint literally made me sick to my stomach," he said.
Altherr is currently being held in the Butler County jail on retainer for federal officials.
If convicted on both charges he faces, Altherr could face up to 40 years in prison.
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 Thursday's hearing 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," Parker said. "We're urging any and every person to come forward so that we can hold him to the highest level of accountability."
Counseling services are being offered for Oak Hills families on Thursday and Friday. Those interested in the services should call 513-598-3411.
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