NFL Player Jake McQuaide Escorted Out of Church by Police After Demanding Answers from Archdiocese in Pornography Scandal

Jake McQuaide was removed from an Ohio church by police after interrupting Mass to question an archdiocese about a local pornography scandal involving priests from the community. 

The NFL long snapper, 37, was escorted out of Our Lady of Visitation by Green Township police on Saturday, May 31, the Cincinnati Enquirer and WCPO News reported.

Per the outlets, McQuaide — a free agent who has played for the Los Angeles Rams and most recently, the Miami Dolphins — was attending the church’s 4 p.m. Mass on Saturday when he demanded answers from Cincinnati Chancellor Jason Williams regarding rumors that one of its priests had viewed pornography on a parish computer. 

“We want to put these rumors to rest. Can you answer this for me?” McQuaide reportedly said during the exchange, before Williams replied, “This is not the time.”

“I’m sorry, sir, this is the time and the place. I will stand up,” the athlete shot back, per WCPO, citing video footage obtained by the news station. 

McQuaide then asked, “Did the priest use our parish computer to look at pornography? …True or false?”

According to both outlets, McQuaide was not detained or charged with a crime after the disruption.

The incident took place moments after Williams read a letter to the church from Archbishop Robert Casey about controversy at the parish, announcing that Fr. Martin Bachman would be taking a “previously planned sabbatical,” WCPO reported.

“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,” Casey read aloud.

Per the outlet, Fr. Donald Siciliano and Bachman were said to be priests in good standing, and Green Township police confirmed there was no evidence or investigation of criminal wrongdoing by Bachman. 

While Bachman has not responded to inquiries about the allegation, archdiocese spokeswoman Jennifer Schack told the Enquirer that claims he used a parish-owned computer to access pornography is false. 

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According to both outlets, Todd Zureick is the Visitation parishioner who filed a complaint with the archdiocese about the pornography allegation, claiming he saw the explicit adult content. Although he said the images and links were not illegal, he felt they violated a code of conduct and alerted the archdiocese in April.  

However, he claimed his report was not adequately addressed at the time. “It’s sad and embarrassing that the lack of institutional control and lack of leadership by our parish leadership has led to this,” Zureick said, per WCPO. “A simple acknowledgement of the issue and taking responsibility would have allowed this to be handled with a scalpel in mid-April, but now it’s being handled with a hatchet.”

McQuaide, the Green Township and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.