MASON, Ohio — After accepting the resignation of Father Barry Stechschulte, Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr has appointed a temporary administrator to St. Susanna Church in Mason.
Stechschulte announced in a message to parishioners Monday that he was stepping down as pastor after more than 500 people signed a petition calling for his resignation following a WCPO 9 I-Team report that showed he ordered the destruction of alleged child pornography and waited six years to report it to police while at a different parish.
A group of parents and parishioners who call themselves Parents for Action submitted a letter to Stechschulte and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati on Saturday. It contained 475 signatures, including those from 300 parents of children who attend the large St. Susanna School, which parents say is nearly half of the families at the elementary school.
The petition continued to grow, including signatures from Mason residents, former parishioners and family members of students.
“The decision you made to destroy evidence instead of reporting it to the proper authorities has severely compromised the confidence many of us have in your leadership,” according to the letter. “We believe that for the unity and peace of our parish to be restored, a change in leadership is necessary … we respectfully request your resignation from your position at St. Susanna.”
The group also criticized the archdiocese for a “lack of direct communication and reassurance,” which deepened their concern.
“Many of us have reached out seeking guidance and support, only to receive silence in return. This situation has left us feeling unheard and unvalued, and it has shaken our faith not only in the local leadership but also in the broader structures of our church,” according to the letter, which asked for a response by Monday.
In a message to parishioners on Tuesday, Archbishop Schnurr said he accepted Stechschulte's resignation and is "thankful for (his) dedicated service these past four years to the St. Susanna community."
Schnurr said he has appointed Father Jeff Kemper as temporary administrator, effective immediately. Kemper will be in charge until a permanent pastor is appointed.
Kemper is listed as a weekend associate for the St. Mary Magdalene Parish Family. He was formerly the pastor at Saint John The Baptist Church.
Before his resignation, Stechschulte had admitted his past mistake and apologized in a July 12 letter to the St. Susanna community. He also asked for forgiveness during a July 14 Mass.
“I understand that the information in this report is distressing for many of you and may impact your trust in me as your pastor … I instructed the hard drive be destroyed. I realize that not reporting it was a terrible mistake, which I regret,” Stechschulte wrote.
While the I-Team report focused on former priest Tony Cutcher, it also revealed Stechschulte's role in delaying public knowledge of what he did.
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Many St. Susanna parents sent WCPO texts and emails, asking to stay anonymous because they feared retribution. They said the archdiocese previously ignored their emails and their concerns.
An archdiocese spokesperson said on July 16 that there were no plans at the time to change Father Barry Stechschulte’s assignment as pastor of St. Susanna.
“Yet another church leader has chosen to protect the image of the church instead of choosing to protect children,” said Teresa Dinwiddie-Herrmann, co-founder of Ohioans for Child Protection.
It happened at Holy Rosary Church in St. Mary’s, a rural area filled with cross-tipped churches. Cutcher was pastor there for several years.
When Stechschulte arrived as the new pastor in July 2012, he and Deacon Marty Brown told police they discovered what looked like child pornography while refurbishing an old desktop computer from a storage room, which had been used by Cutcher.
“Father Barry said that upon looking at the computer he found two file folders, one containing male homosexual pornography and the other file contained pictures of boys … he said he can only recall boys with no shirts on. I asked him if the kids were obviously underage with him saying ‘yes’ and that they were preteen, probably 8 to 10 years of age,” according to St. Mary’s 2018 police report.
“He did describe the boys as being in provocative poses. He again said he could not recall nudity or not, but it could have been,” Stechschulte told police, according to the report.
Police were never able to determine if anything illegal existed on that computer hard drive.
The deacon told police that he took the hard drive out of the computer and destroyed it with a blow torch at the request of Stechschulte, according to the police report.
“Father Barry said at the time, he did not realize the repercussions of not revealing what they had found. Father Barry again said that he should not have destroyed the evidence,” according to the police report.
Cutcher was never charged with a crime.
“Did (the archdiocese) try to find those children that were in the material? Did they try to reach out to families in the parish at the time to see if anything concerning had happened between Father Cutcher and children? It doesn’t sound like it,” Dinwiddie-Herrmann said.
Just over two years later, Montgomery County prosecutors investigated Cutcher in 2021 for sending hundreds of text messages to a 14-year-old boy while pastor of St. Peter in Huber Heights.
Cutcher resigned from active ministry in April 2021, following a scandal at the parish.
Meanwhile, Stechschulte moved from Holy Rosary to become pastor of a much larger parish — St. Susanna. An archdiocese spokesperson declined to say if he was ever disciplined.
“After returning from his retreat on Friday, July 12th, Fr. Barry immediately met with the parish office staff and school administration. Fr. Barry spoke at all Masses the weekend of July 13th/14th regarding the information in the news report, and expressing his remorse,” according to the St. Susanna Catholic Church Facebook page.
Then Stechschulte met with the St. Susanna Parish Council and school commission on July 16 and 17, and with school staff on July 18 and 20, according to the church Facebook page.
Last week, Stechschulte set up small group meetings with parents. But parents told WCPO the meetings did not go well, and Stechschulte declined to attend the remaining parent meetings set for July 25 and 27, according to documents reviewed by WCPO.
Stechschulte presided over the 9:30 a.m. Mass on July 28, one day after receiving the petition for his resignation. Afterward, some parishioners handed out QR codes that linked to a letter seeking signatures for forgiveness and unity.
WCPO viewed the link, which appeared to be a competing petition, created by a parishioner, to be shared with Stechschulte on Aug. 11, the feast of St. Susanna.
