Pastor faces child pornography charges

ALLEN COUNTY, Ind. (WANE) - A local chaplain is facing child pornography charges.

He is one of two men arrested after an investigation by the F.B.I. Cyber Crime Task Force.

Both men were indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in Fort Wayne.

Bernard Squires, 64, is accused of distributing child pornography. According to court documents, the charge stems from about a week long period at the beginning of June.

Since no criminal complaint was filed, few details are available about his arrest.

Court records do indicate that police seized a number of computers, tapes and movies from Squires' rural Columbia city home.

Squires served as chaplain for the Whitley County Sheriff's Department. It's not clear how long he was in that position, but officers tell NewsChannel 15 he has been let go.

Squires is also the pastor of a Grace Baptist Church in Columbia City. Neighbors living near the small church tell NewsChannel 15 they can hardly believe the news.

"I have a three-year-old girl, and yeah, that's quite a shock," said neighbor Melissa Carlson. "And, it's pretty sad to hear that."

Another neighbor, Mickey English says, "It's devastating. It's devastating to the Christian community and I'm very shocked. I had no idea there was any problem over there."

The other man involved in the FBI child porn probe is Brian Schinbeckler, 50, from Fort Wayne.

Court documents indicate police found more than 200 video files containing child porn on his computer.

Both men are being held at the Allen County Jail. They face at least five years behind bars if convicted and possibly large fines.

At this point, both cases appear to be unrelated.