Man who ran school background checks charged with possessing sexual materials

PLAIN CITY, Ohio (WCMH) – An employee and designated watchdog for a Catholic church and school in Dublin is facing charges for sex crimes involving minors out of Union County, according to records and deleted webpages.

Union County court records show Plain City resident John Denzel, 60, is facing 15 counts of possessing sexually oriented material. Denzel is specifically charged with four counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor or impaired person, and 11 counts of illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance.

The first four charges are fourth-degree felonies and detail that the suspect knowingly solicited, received, purchases, exchanged, possessed or controlled material that shows a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity. The remaining 11 are fifth-degree felonies and state that the suspect possessed or viewed material that shows a minor who was not Denzel’s own child in a state of nudity.

According to parish website pages -- now deleted but preserved by the Wayback Machine -- Denzel was the Safe Environment Coordinator at the St. Brigid of Kildare Church in Dublin. In this role, Denzel conducted fingerprint background checks on volunteers, and coordinated their participation in a "Protecting God's Children" course for volunteers to stay aware of signs of child sexual abuse. A different employee at the diocese was responsible for taking reports of abuse.

The Columbus Diocese and the Union County Sheriff's Office had not responded to requests for comment as of 2:30 p.m. that confirmed if the church employee was the same suspect charged in the case. However, the church completely removed all mention of Denzel from its live website. Court records did not share specifics on the number of victims involved in Denzel's charges.

The church is also connected to Saint Brigid of Kildare school, which offers enrollment to elementary and preschool students.

A judge issued a warrant for Denzel's arrest on July 26. On Tuesday, he faced a Union County judge, who released Denzel on his own recognizance, meaning he did not have to pay any cash bail. A pretrial conference was scheduled for Sept. 4 in common pleas court.