A priest who admitted to viewing adult pornography and playing inappropriate video games last year has resigned and can no longer minister as a priest.Father Martin Bachman caused a scandal when he left Our Lady of the Visitatio n Church in Green Township in May 2025, after parishioners demanded answers about whether he viewed pornography on a parish computer and questioned how the Archdiocese of Cincinnati handled the situation.In the aftermath, Bachman took a sabbatical. Then in December 2025, the archdiocese assigned him as a parochial vicar at parishes 90 minutes north in the rural Piqua area. The WCPO 9 I-Team discovered that Bachmans name was missing from an Oct. 25 church bulletin at his new family of parishes, but had appeared a week earlier.Fr. Martin Bachman requested to step away from active priestly ministry and resign from his assignment as parochial vicar of NW - 6, Our Lady of Fatima Family of Parishes. Archbishop Casey accepted his resignation, and Fr. Bachman no longer has priestly faculties and does not currently have an assignment, Archdiocese of Cincinnati spokesperson Jennifer Schack wrote in a Nov. 3 email, clarifying that Bachman is still a priest, but cannot minister.The Miami County prosecutor and chiefs from the Troy and Piqua police departments said they had not received any recent allegations of wrongdoing by Bachman.WATCH: Priest at center of scandal resigns Priest at center of scandal resignsThe scandal began on May 31, 2025, when two Green Township police officers escorted NFL player Jake McQuaide out of Mass after he stood up to ask Chancellor Jason Williams for answers about Bachman.Parishioners accused Bachman of having pornographic images and links to role-playing sites and hardcore games with titles such as The Mortuary Assistant, Autopsy Simulator, Sex Hotel, Lust Hotel and VR Secretary, which involved sexual violence and torture, sexual behavior with corpses and other disturbing behavior.Williams had just finished reading a letter from Archbishop Robert Casey about controversy at the parish, and that Bachman would be taking a previously planned sabbatical. Several concerns have been brought to the attention of the archdiocese. These have been investigated, and no wrongdoing either criminally or ecclesiastically has been substantiated consequently, like gossip, the spreading of rumors is sinful, and we should all work to overcome this tendency of our fallen human nature, according to Caseys letter.The letter stated that Fr. Donald Siciliano and Bachman are priests in good standing, and that Green Township police confirmed there was no evidence or investigation of criminal wrongdoing by Bachman.Green Township police also investigated an unrelated complaint in December 2023. The incident occurred at 6655 Werk Road, a home near the church and school campus, owned by the archdiocese, according to police and county records.The name of the person who filed the complaint with Green Township police is redacted because Ohio law allows the names of crime victims to be concealed. The victim told police he lost $58,000 from an online investment account, and said a person he met online sent multiple emails threatening to send pictures of their conversations to his parishes, and admitted, their conversations were sexual in nature, which is breaking his policies with the parishes.Police tracked the suspects IP address to Vientiane, the capital city of Laos. Police listed the charge as telecommunications fraud, but were unable to make any arrests, according to police records.The police report includes a sexually explicit exchange between the two and a written threat from the suspect: "I will hurt you."Caseys letter, read aloud at weekend masses by Williams in late May 2025, purportedly did not mention that police investigation. When Williams finished speaking and walked away from the podium on May 31, 2025, McQuaide stood up from his pew at the front of the church and loudly asked questions.Please take a second. We want to put these rumors to rest. Can you answer this for me fact or fiction? McQuaide can be heard in multiple videos provided to WCPO.This is not the time for this, a voice from the altar answered.Im sorry, sir, this is the time and the place. I will stand up, McQuaide said, according to the video. Did the priest use our parish computer to look at pornography? true or false, McQuaide said, according to the video.McQuaide, a 2006 Elder graduate, is a career NFL long snapper who currently plays for the Los Angeles Rams. He was a parishioner at Our Lady of the Visitation. Green Township police said he was not charged with a crime.You can look at pornography at your house, but you cannot do it here, McQuaide told the chancellor, according to the video, adding that he had seen the images in question from the priests computer.I am not trespassing, he said, as two officers approached him and began to lead him down the center aisle of the church. Someone from the church had requested and paid for a police detail for all weekend masses when the encounter took place.Less than a week later, Bachman wrote in a letter that he had "viewed adult pornography ... albeit never at the office and never on a parish-owned device."In his letter, Bachman said he had viewed adult pornography and "engaged with some video games of an inappropriate nature," but noted it was never at his office or while on a parish-owned phone or computer."I am deeply ashamed and regret this," Bachman wrote.Bachman also said he "fell prey" to a scheme that lost him a "significant amount" of his personal money, but did not say what the scheme was. He stated he reported that to law enforcement. In the letter, Bachman said he has dealt with a "difficult" past couple of years, "beginning with the deaths of my mother and father within 30 days of each other and not taking sufficient time to grieve.""While it is true that none of my actions have been criminal, morally I have not always responded to stress and anxiety as I would have hoped and I am seeking help for my struggles," Bachman wrote. "I take ownership of my behavior and ask for your prayers as I pursue spiritual and emotional growth."But the controversy continued. Hundreds of local Catholics signed a petition for transparency and leadership accountability at Divine Mercy Parish and Schools, which includes Our Lady of the Visitation, St. Joseph and St. Jude.Then Our Lady of the Visitation parishioners and other Catholics held a prayer vigil at the Archdioceses downtown office on July 22, 2025."The ongoing struggle of getting transparency and accountability that seems to be never-ending, Kathy Weyer, a coordinator for Greater Cincinnati Voice of the Faithful, told the I-Team in July 2025. Weve gone through three different bishops now and in all regards we continue to have a lack of openness to the laity about whats going on in their own parish.The archdiocese did not reveal when Bachman submitted his resignation letter or any details behind it. ...read more read less