Child Porn Charges May Be Tip Of Iceberg
School Bus Driver And Minister Reportedly Admits Sex With A Dozen Minors
POSTED: 5:21 pm EST December 28,
2004
UPDATED: 7:30 am EST December 29,
2004
CINCINNATI -- The Princeton school bus driver and minister busted on child porn charges may be guilty of even more shocking crimes, News 5's Emily Longnecker reports.
Robert Elms, who calls himself Father Dominic Elms, reportedly told authorities he's had sexual encounters with about 12 people under 18 years old over the past 20 years.
Those reports also say Elms' most recent encounter happened just two weeks ago with two young boys from his parish and a student at Princeton High School. Elms, 49, had been a bus driver for the Princeton City Schools for 14 years. According to the district, someone called Tuesday requesting medical leave for him."At no time has anyone come forward in the past to make an accusation against this particular bus driver," said Chris Gramke, Princeton schools spokeman. "This is the first time we've heard of anything like this involving this employee."School officials say bus drivers must pass a criminal background check.Elms lived and operated a storefront church in the 4600 block of Tower Avenue in St. Bernard. Federal agents say Elms used computers there to download and distribute child porn. The St. Bernard Police Department helped agents investigate and take Elms into custody Tuesday."It's kind of disturbing when you find a predator in your own backyard," said St. Bernard Lt. Bill Ungruhe. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati said Elms' church, called Saint Mary's Traditional Catholic Church, is not part of the diocese or the Catholic Church in Rome. It's not clear if Elms is truly an ordained minister or just calls himself father. Church neighbors who wouldn't go on camera say Elms frequently walked around the church in a long brown or black monk's robe.Elms was charged after an international investigation that began Germany, officials said. German authorities investigating a child porn ring gave information about Elms to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at the ICE Cyber Crime Center in Fairfax, Va.ICE agents executed a federal search warrant at Elms' apartment and seized three computers and formatted computer disks suspected of containing child pornography.Elms is being held without bond until a formal detention hearing Thursday.
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