FBI finds elementary school gym teacher in hotel room with naked girl, 5 or 6 years old; he's arrested on child porn charges

An Ohio elementary school gym teacher reportedly was hit with federal child porn charges after FBI agents found him in a hotel room late last month with a naked girl believed to be 5 or 6 years old.

Federal court documents accused 44-year-old Mark Altherr of making more than 260 posts on a website meant to serve pedophiles over the last three years.

The district immediately placed him on administrative leave.

Altherr had worked for the Oak Hills School District since 2019, according to officials.

The suspect had allegedly written on the website about his own acts of sexual abuse in regard to a 10-year-old neighbor, an 8-year-old he said had a "crush" on him, and a 4-year-old he was looking after.

FBI officials said they had been monitoring posts to the pedophile website when they uncovered Altherr's identity and discovered he worked at Delshire Elementary School.

Court documents said officers went to his home but were unable to find him. When they pinged his phone, they saw he was at a public place in Columbus. They followed him to a hotel where they allegedly found him in a room with the girl. Altherr was arrested July 26 — the same day agents started looking for him — and investigators determined he likely posted at least one explicit image of that same girl with him in the room to the website, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

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Agents obtained the room number from hotel staff, knocked on the door and announced their presence. According to the documents, Altherr opened the door, saw the agents and then tried to shut it. The agents prevented him from doing that and arrested him.

The FBI later seized two USB drives at his Delhi Township home that, according to court documents, contained videos and images depicting the sexual abuse of children.

Altherr was charged with one federal count of child pornography possession and one federal count of child pornography distribution. He could face up to 40 years in prison if convicted on both counts.

The district immediately placed him on administrative leave and said the charges were serious enough to begin the process of firing him.

"The Oak Hills Local School District is working closely with and fully cooperating with the FBI and law enforcement agents regarding the ongoing investigation," read a statement from district officials. "When more information becomes available, and legally permissible, we will share it with families and the community."

WCPO-TV published a video report that includes Altherr's booking photo.

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