ST. CLOUD, Fla. -- An employee of a Catholic church in Osceola County was arrested Tuesday on charges that he accessed child porn on school grounds.
- St. Cloud Catholic school worker accused of accessing child porn
- Detectives: Mark Dewayne Cook accessed child porn with church Wi-Fi
- Diocese of Orlando: Cook immediately fired as operations manager
Mark Dewayne Cook of Cape Canaveral was arrested Tuesday and faces two counts of promoting movie/photo sexual performance by a child, the Osceola County Sheriff's Office said.
Sheriff's detectives said they received a tip about someone possibly downloading child pornography. Investigators determined that child porn was downloaded by someone using an internet account assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church on Brown Chapel Road in St. Cloud.
Detectives then made contact with Cook, who was the operations manager of the church and school. They said he admitted to logging on to the church's Wi-Fi with his cell phone to send or receive "child sexual exploitation material."
In a released statement, the Diocese of Orlando said Cook was immediately fired from his business duties for the parish, and he "did not work directly with vulnerable populations."
"We pray for the victims of child pornography and their families, our Parish and school community and all those involved in this situation. May the mercy of God be upon us," the diocese said, which added it was cooperating with the ongoing investigation.
Anyone with information on this case or any other similar cases is asked to call the Sheriff's Office at 407-348-2222.