Lothar Konrad Krauth of Great Falls intends to plead guilty to a receipt of child pornography charge.
Court documents filed on March 22nd indicate Krauth, a retired Catholic priest, plans to change his plea to guilty at a hearing next week.
Court documents state Homeland Security agents received a cyber report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on October 10, 2018.
The report showed a user with an IP address in Great Falls had uploaded an image of a nude prepubescent male child.
A summons to the internet service provider identified the IP address as assigned to Krauth, according to court documents.
Agents and Great Falls police executed a search warrant at Krauth’s residence on October 26, 2018 where they seized approximately 20 items of electronic media including a desktop computer, external hard drives, six thumb drives, and more.
Court documents state a preliminary examination of the desktop computer identified approximately 400 images of child pornography while a subsequent analysis revealed thousands.
The images showed children as young as two or three years old, according to court documents.
Krauth was assigned to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Great Falls from 1989 to 2014.
The change of plea hearing will take place Monday, April 8 at 11 a.m.
(NOVEMBER 15, 2018) Lothar Konrad Krauth of Great Falls, 80 years old, appeared in federal court in Great Falls for a detention hearing related to criminal charges of receipt of child pornography.
On October 10, 2018, agents with the Department of Homeland Security received a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTip identifying an IP address in Great Falls as uploading an image of a nude prepubescent male child. A Summons to the internet service provider identified the IP address as assigned to Krauth.
Court documents state that officers with the Great Falls Police Department and HSI seized approximately 20 items of electronic devices at his house on October 26; the items included a desktop computer, nine hard drives, six thumb drives, two digital cameras, 210 DVDs/CDs, and 30 VCR tapes.
A forensic examination of the devices revealed approximately 400 images of child pornography, to include children engaged in sexually explicit conduct to include oral, vaginal, and anal acts with other children and adults. The majority of the images depict prepubescent children, some as young as approximately two or three years old.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office states that the complaint is merely an accusation and Krauth is presumed innocent until proven guilty. If indicted and convicted of the charge in the complaint, Krauth faces a minimum mandatory five years to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release.
The investigation identified Krauth as being a retired Catholic Priest assigned to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Great Falls from 1989 to 2014. He is known throughout the community as “Father Lou.”
Wednesday’s detention hearing began at 9:21 a.m. and concluded at 9:46 a.m.
