LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A former teacher at Louisville Catholic elementary and middle school pleaded guilty Wednesday to seven charges related to child pornography nearly a year after he was accused of editing his students' faces onto the explicit images.

Jordan Fautz, 39, was arrested and charged in February with distributing child pornography, distributing obscene visual representation of child sexual abuse and possession of child pornography between March 31, 2022, to Feb. 2, 2024. Federal investigators said those photos included edited images of faces taken from the school's yearbook.

The United States Department of Justice said Fautz, a seventh and eighth grade religion teacher and maintenance employee at St. Stephen Martyr Catholic School, sent child sexual abuse materials to a law enforcement officer who was working undercover online.

According to court documents, Fautz used yearbook photos of students and at least one adult from the school. The distributed images had photoshopped faces of students and the adult onto other nude images. Some photos showed students wearing "clearly labeled red shirts" with the letters "SSM" and in front of a "SSMCardinals" photo backdrop, investigators said.

In federal court in downtown Louisville on Wednesday, Fautz pleaded guilty to all seven charges against him, which, in total, could send him to prison for nearly 20 years.

Some of the victims were in the courtroom as well as Fautz's parents.

"It's heartbreaking to them," said Frank Mascagni, Fautz's attorney. "All of this is a shock to them."

A lawsuit filed in March against the Archdiocese of Louisville claims instances of misconduct by Fautz. Filed by 11 former students and parents in Jefferson Circuit Court on March 7, the lawsuit claims Fautz's employment was investigated, vetted and approved by his mother, who was a business manager at SSM. Fautz was employed at SSM from 2015 until his February arrest, the lawsuit said, and held multiple roles over his time at the school, including librarian, Quick Recall moderator and organizer/teacher of "Shop Class." 

FBI FAUTZ FOLO

St. Stephen Martyr Parish in Louisville, Ky. on Feb. 3, 2024.

According to the lawsuit, Fautz was allowed to use a "homemade" computer, which he'd carry in a briefcase, rather than using a school-issued computer, and even refused a new computer when SSM purchased new ones with COVID pandemic grant money. The suit claims Fautz had a "secluded office" on the third floor that had a private staircase and a door that locked automatically, though Fautz was also allowed to "have keys and unlimited access to every area of the school, gym, and church building at SSM."

He was also allowed to take photographs of students and was in charge of recording SSM mass during the pandemic, the lawsuit alleges. The suit also claims Fautz would "crawl" social media to find photos of "targeted students and parents."

The lawsuit said Fautz was known to have "violent outbursts toward students," would throw chairs and objects at them, and cuss at them. It states he also told students he would "choke them out" and "kill them."

According to the lawsuit, SSM took no action against Fautz even after he called a student a "moron" and an "a**hole." The lawsuit also claims he once showed a class an exorcism on YouTube and told them he was an athiest.

The lawsuit also includes multiple claims of Fautz spending time with students after school and driving them home in his own vehicle without parents' knowledge. It alleges that when parents complained to the school about Fautz driving their children home, SSM "took no action."

The lawsuit alleges Fautz also had an "inappropriate" relationship with an eighth grader during the 2022-23 school year and no disciplinary action was taken toward him, but "SSM placed parameters on the student," who was told not to have contact with Fautz. 

Fautz was indicted by a Jefferson County grand jury and initially pleaded not guilty to the charges against him in February. Since that court hearing, Fautz has remained in federal custody. The case was scheduled to go to trial May 6.

He'll return to federal court March 19 for his sentencing hearing.

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