Diocese addresses office manager's arrest

Published: April 14, 2025

The Diocese of Little Rock issued the following statement, April 10, 2025, to parishioners of St. Joseph Church in Tontitown regarding a staff member’s arrest. A similar letter was distributed to the parents of Ozark Catholic Academy, which is housed on the church campus.

“We at the diocese have some serious and disturbing information to share with you about Paul Scouten, the office manager for your parish since August of 2016. He was arrested earlier today at home on suspicion of distributing, possessing or viewing of matter depicting sexually explicit conduct involving a child.

"Mr. Scouten is alleged to have images of child sexual abuse on his personal phone. After Mr. Scouten’s arrest, officers with the Arkansas State Police served a search warrant at the parish office and took his work computer to determine whether it contained any images of child sexual abuse, and we have been notified that it does.

“Mr. Scouten has been placed on administrative leave, and he will not be allowed in the parish office or on the parish grounds until a decision is made about his employment status. Since this is an active investigation, this is all the information about Mr. Scouten’s arrest that can be released at this time.

“We know that you may have your own questions and concerns about whether the allegations against Mr. Scouten might have anything to do with the children and students on your parish’s campus. At this time, there is nothing to indicate any of the children or youth at your parish or any of the students at Ozark Catholic Academy have been involved.

"As the investigation unfolds, we look forward to hopefully being able to reassure you that no children or students are involved. Please be assured that as there is more information that can be made public, we will do our best to share it with you.

“The investigators with the Arkansas State Police would like to be contacted by anyone with information that might be related to the allegations against Mr. Scouten. They can be contacted at (479) 783-5195, attention Special Agent Roy Moomey.

“The Diocese of Little Rock is committed to all of its parishes, schools and facilities being a safe environment for children and young people. All allegations of child sexual abuse, which includes sexually explicit images of minors, are taken with the utmost seriousness, and they are handled according to the Policy for Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors that can be found on the Diocese of Little Rock website under Safe Environment Program.

“Anyone with information related to the allegations against Mr. Scouten or any other person connected with the Church suspected of being involved in child sexual abuse should contact the Arkansas Child Abuse Hotline at (800) 482-5964 and Deacon Matt Glover, chancellor, at (501) 664-0340.

“Children and teens who are exploited and shown being abused in photos and videos depicted as ‘child porn’ are victims of child sexual abuse. We pray for their well-being and escape from their abusers; and for those who escape from such abuse, we pray that the Lord will grace them with the resources, perseverance and strength to recover and heal from their trauma.”

On April 11, Paul Scouten’s employment was terminated, effective immediately.