Fr. Edward Burns, pastor of St. Michael the Archangel Parish since 2018, has been placed on administrative leave by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati while an investigation is conducted. The leave was announced at weekend Masses and is not a presumption of guilt.

The action follows the discovery by a parish employee that a computer previously used by Fr. Burns may have accessed concerning websites, including pornography sites, during preparations to repurpose the device. The information was reported to the Pastoral Center and subsequently forwarded to law enforcement for review.

"Fr. Burns will remain on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. While on administrative leave Fr. Burns is not present in the parish offices and will not be on school campuses," according to information released by the Archdiocese.

"As this is an open investigation, we have no additional information to share at this time."

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati serves nearly 440,000 Catholics across 19 counties and operates more than 100 primary and secondary schools with over 40,000 students enrolled.