Sheriff Fries: Nothing criminal found on Lindsay's computer yet

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - Sheriff Ken Fries confirmed the Allen County Sheriff's Department is investigating files found on Matt Lindsay's computer.

According to the Diocese of Fort Wayne - South Bend, the Diocesan contacted the ACPD on Friday Sept. 14 after business hours and left a message. The Diocese then had a face-to-face meeting with Allen County personnel on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

Sheriff Fries told NewsChannel 15 his department has been working on the investigation into the files on Matt Lindsay's computer.

Fries said nothing criminal has been found so far.

"So far we’ve looked at it.  The prosecutor’s office has looked at it and we find nothing criminal thus far," said Fries. "Doesn’t mean we won’t.  Doesn’t mean we will.  We will do a thorough investigation and hopefully come up with a conclusion hopefully first part of the week."

He also said detectives have not been able to identify most of the people in the video files. The videos were taken at several locations but the specific locations were not released.  He said none of those locations were private.

"99 percent of the stuff we don't have any identification of any people," Fries said.  "I mean you can't identify any students or anybody in most of the pictures."

Fries said detectives were going through the files on Lindsay's laptop as well as working on recovering deleted files.

"There are different statutes that could come into play.  So far none of them have, in any of the videos or the photos that we have seen," Fries said.  "There is no indication that they will, but we don’t know."

Fries said the sheriff department's investigation may wrap up as early as Monday or Tuesday.

Diocese Statement on the dismissal of Matt Lindsay

The Diocese of Fort Wayne - South Bend issued a statement Wednesday night which explained that the firing of longtime Bishop Luers High School football coach Matt Lindsay had to do with the discovery of "inappropriate" videos on his computer.

The following is the statement in its entirety:

Last Wednesday evening, September 12, 2012, the Diocese learned that a large number of inappropriate video clips, none involving nudity, were discovered on the computer of Mr. Matthew Lindsay, the head football coach at Bishop Luers High School.

The next morning, Thursday September 13, 2012, Mr. Lindsay was placed on administrative leave by the principal, Mrs. Mary Keefer. An internal investigation was immediately conducted by diocesan and school officials and that investigation resulted in the termination of Mr. Lindsay’s employment on Sunday September 16, 2012.

In accord with diocesan policy, the matter was also reported to law enforcement officials in the Fort Wayne area for their investigation and evaluation. Additionally, evidence obtained last week by school officials was turned over to local law enforcement. We do not know if the actions of Mr. Lindsay constitute a criminal offense.

That is for the police to investigate and for law enforcement officials to evaluate. According to our judgment (the school and the diocese), the apparent surreptitious taking of video clips of students and other persons of the type taken by Mr. Lindsay constituted a violation of our ethical standards and policies, and thus mandated the immediate dismissal of Mr. Lindsay. Further disclosures regarding the contents of the videos will be up to law enforcement officials.

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades stated, “I know that this matter has been the subject of much speculation in the media and in the community. Because of the concerns of all involved, we have tried to proceed carefully and honestly, though under intense public pressure. My primary concern is the welfare of our students, the community of Bishop Luers High School, and the integrity of our actions. This whole affair has caused turmoil for many people. I ask for your prayers for the Bishop Luers community and for all involved in this very sad affair. “

While it is unknown if the report is directly related to the videos that resulted in Lindsay's dismissal, the Fort Wayne Police Department filed a report in August, 2011 after it was alleged Lindsay had taken pictures or videos of children at the Glenaqua pool.

Lindsay had coached at Luers since 1987 and under his tenure the Knights had won nine state titles, including the three in a row from 2009 to 2011.