A Catholic priest in Baldwin City has been suspended and the FBI is investigating his conduct after he was reported to have visited inappropriate websites, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas said in a news release Monday.

Friday morning the Archdiocese received a report — it did not say from where — that the priest, Chris Rossman, 44, had visited “inappropriate websites” that were “depicting minors,” the release said. It did not elaborate on what was “inappropriate” about the sites.

Chris Rossman

Rossman serves at both Baldwin City’s Annunciation Church and the St. Francis of Assisi Church in Lapeer, the release said. The Lapeer church is southwest of Lawrence near Overbrook.

Rossman has not been arrested and has not been charged with any crime in Douglas County District Court, nor does he have a criminal record in the district.

The Archdiocese reported the allegations to the FBI, which is now investigating, the release said. And Rossman has been suspended from the ministry, “pending the outcome of investigations by law enforcement and the Archdiocese.” The suspension is part of now-standard procedures that the Archdiocese says it follows when it receives reports of inappropriate conduct.

Representatives from the FBI did not immediately return a phone call seeking additional details on the investigation.

According to the Archdiocese website, Rossman was ordained on May 26, 2007. Since then he has held assignments in Olathe’s Prince of Peace, Topeka’s Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Holton’s St. Dominic, Mayetta’s St. Francis Xavier and the Potawatomi Reservation’s Our Lady of the Snows Oratory.

Rossman started working at Annunciation and St. Francis of Assisi on July 1, 2015.

Brian Schieber, Vicar for the Clergy within the Archdiocese, said Rossman has not previously been accused of inappropriate activity.

Rossman did not immediately return a phone call Monday afternoon seeking comment for this story.

It was not clear Monday who would take over duties at the Baldwin City and Lapeer churches pending the investigation. On Sunday, the archbishop of the Kansas City, Kan., diocese said Mass in Baldwin City and told parishioners that the church was moving swiftly to fill the vacancy.

Anyone who might have knowledge of any inappropriate behavior by a member of the Archdiocese is asked to call Archdiocesan Report Investigator Jan Saylor at 913-647-3051 and to also call police directly.