Holy Redeemer High School varsity football coach Joseph Ostrowski was arrested Monday afternoon on charges pertaining to the attempted production of child pornography.
Ostrowski was then taken to Lackawanna County jail, where he was housed as of Monday night.
"I hope that, and pray that, it's not true but that's, yeah, that's pretty serious," said Tom Dennis of Wilkes-Barre who lives near the Catholic school.
A statement from the Catholic Diocese of Scranton released Monday read,
"F.B.I. agents informed school administrators that Mr. Ostrowski was being arrested on charges pertaining to the attempted production of child pornography. Mr. Ostrowski was immediately suspended from his position; and school administrators and diocesan officials will continue to cooperate fully with law enforcement`s investigation."
Newswatch 16 spoke with a current football player at Holy Redeemer about the arrest which he said he saw happen in the weight room at school in front of other team members.
That player and parents and students Newswatch 16 spoke with did not want to appear on camera, but one parent did release a statement:
"It's unfortunate that individuals seek these interests. Anyone, especially people with direct contact with teens, should absolutely have no immoral or sexually deviant thoughts or activities."
"That's disturbing all the way around, especially somebody involved with children, yeah, it's disturbing," said Dennis.